Sandbags

Obtaining sandbags

Contact your local district or borough council for information about sandbag providers in your area:

Using sandbags

The Environment Agency have advice on how to use sandbags properly for flood protection.

Disposing of sandbags

After a flood, we will work with your district or borough council to inform you about areas for disposal and/or collections for used sandbags. If you wish to store unused sandbags, keep them in a dry place and only store dry bags. We recommend you keep at least six per household.

Sandbags, especially when wet, will be very heavy and can weigh up to 25kg. Take appropriate care when lifting and moving these. If you are handling wet sandbags, wear gloves and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.

Our sandbag policy

There is no statutory requirement for us to provide sandbags or prevent a property from flooding. Residents and business owners are responsible for protecting their properties and should make plans in advance of a flood.

We will use our stock of sandbags initially to prevent flooding of the highway. If possible, we will try to provide sandbags to district and borough councils to support their sandbag procedures.

We have developed this policy to ensure that our resources are deployed to where they would be most effective.