APPLEBY'S new flood siren sounds "similar to that of an emergency vehicle" and is not as loud or high-pitched as the previous siren, said town councillors.

Following a ten-second test last week, Appleby Town Council's planning and general purpose committee was told the warning siren "had not been heard inside homes in many of the most vulnerable areas of town".

Cllr Jim Chalmers, chair of the Appleby Emergency Response Group, said he would pass the comments on to the company installing the siren.

He said the £1.5 million set aside for flood works in Appleby after Storm Desmond in December 2015 was likely to be spent on improving culverts at Rampkin Pastures, installing a permanent new pump at Doomgate Beck culvert, raising low spots and strengthening existing defences.

He said the Environment Agency has discounted building a flood wall at The Sands on cost grounds and because it would push flood water across the town centre.

Planning consent is likely to be sought in early 2020.