Countryfile viewers have a big problem with presenter Tom Heap’s flooding report

COUNTRYFILE viewers have flooded social media with criticism after a report about coastal defences.

Presenter Tom Heap took a trip to the Welsh village of Fairbourne on Sunday night’s episode of the BBC show to find out how the area is being impacted by climate change and the threat of rising waters.

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However, upon viewing the segment, some viewers hit out at the suggested methods of defending the UK’s coast.

Tom began by explaining that the Welsh village was at risk of flooding as a result of rising waters.

“Residents have been told the village itself may need to be evacuated within the next few decades,” he told viewers.

The presenter chatted to local resident Mike Thrussel who has lived in the village for more than half his life.

As the pair walked towards the village’s sea defence, Tom said: “I’m guessing this sea wall is pretty critical to you.”

"Yes, it is. My house is literally 25 or 30 yards behind it,” Mike explained.

Tom revealed: “It’s the Welsh Government that pays for flood and coastal defences across Wales - 65 million pounds this year alone."

Mike made it clear he wasn’t keen on the idea of the village being evacuated to another part of the country.

He fumed: “You can’t relocate a village, not in mass you can’t. But, as an individual, where are we going to be relocated to?

"If you’ve got families living in different houses in the village, are they going to be relocated together?"

However, some Countryfile viewers disagreed with Mike, insisting that maintaining sea walls was not the way forward.

One fumed: “If you build sea defences in one place, it makes erosion worse somewhere else.

"It's not possible to protect everywhere. You live on the coast that's the price you pay."

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A second tweeted: Coastal communities under threat of flooding? Move inland you dopey b******s. It's really not hard, is it?"

While another questioned: “Why build houses on flood plains?"

Countryfile airs Sundays at 5:25pm on BBC One.

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