A webcam that monitors river levels at Bradford on Avon has proved so successful the creator of the idea is looking for a home for a second webcam.

Varn Media, in Newtown, installed the camera on the Bridge Tea Rooms two weeks ago to take a photo of the town bridge every hour, rising to 10-minute intervals when the floods were at their peak.

The company set up BoA Bridge Watch and manages updates through its Twitter account, Facebook page and website, as well as monitoring online data on river level changes.

Tom Vaughton, the managing director of Varn Media, came up with the idea on Christmas Eve when the floods closed the bridge, causing chaos in the town.

Mr Vaughton, 35, said: “The man at Browns hardware shop helped people, using tools to seal up doors.

“Varn Media specialises in website design, search engine marketing and social media so I thought: ‘What could we do?’ “You can see the level of the river on the Environment Agency website but it doesn’t tell you if the bridge is shut. We did it for the local community and everyone has said it has been helpful.”

The company now wants to find a home for a second webcam on the other side of the bridge plus one at Staverton, where floods close roads.

A webcam used to monitor the re-building of the Cutty Sark ship in Greenwich has been donated, after its owner saw the appeal on Twitter.

Mr Vaughton said: “It will connect to people’s broadband and we will remotely do the management. It will help the community.

“We encourage people to use BoA Bridge Watch for updates, such as traffic issues, before they set off on trips.”

Visit www. varnmedia.co. uk/boa-bridge-watch or email bridgewatch @varnmedia.co.uk