FLOOD protection volunteers from the Wee County were called into action for the second week in a row.

With wintry weather persisting over the weekend, flood warnings went out both in Tillicoultry and Menstrie where hardy community volunteers monitored the situation and took proactive action to help safeguard property.

It was perhaps the busiest weather event yet for the Tillicoultry, Devonside and Coalsnaughton Flood Group (Tideco), who even went out in the wee hours when water levels were peaking in a flooding River Devon.

There was some great partnership working between the group, the fire and rescue service, police and more, when the flood warning for the area around Sterling Mills went out on Friday, February 21, evening.

Tideco were monitoring water levels and teams were out patrolling into the night until around 1.30am.

They went to catch a couple of hours of sleep before a call out come around 4.30am when there was concern for a local property.

A team was put together and volunteers also helped out at Sterling Furniture while helping to manage traffic on flooding roads.

Gail Walker, of Tideco, said: "It was all well and good at the end of the day, other than marginal flooding, I am not aware of any homes that were flooded out.

"The extent of flooding was greater than SEPA had anticipated, I think in terms of the group of volunteers we did the best we could."

She also wanted to highlight that the local floodplains did exactly what they are meant to, they retained water until it could escape back into the burn and the river.

And added: "There was huge alarm at how much flooding there was in Clackmannanshire, but actually, along the Hillfoots, that was the floodplain doing its job, it's what it's there to do, to catch water and hold water until it can drain freely back into the river."

Down the road toward the west, the Menstrie Community Resilience Group (MCRG) was monitoring water levels after a flood warning was issued for the industrial site there.

The Menstrie to Tullibody road was closed, but luckily the burn was not causing problems this time around.

Most of the fields at the bottom of Menstrie were under water, but residential properties were unaffected with the volunteers keeping an eye on the situation and informing the community.

While the Menstrie group had it easier volunteers were still needed to advise the council to close the road and to monitor developments.

One issue highlighted by MCRG lead co-ordinator James Bull related to the safety of motorists when it comes to flooded and closed roads.

He is urging drivers to respect road closure signs as there can be many hidden dangers in flood waters including strong flow, debris, damaged or missing road surfaces and more.

Also, those ignoring a road warning may not be covered by insurance in that situation.

Thanks went to all volunteers and partners from both groups.