An anti-flooding reservoir could be built close to a prehistoric henge in Lincolnshire.

Environment Agency officers are to begin looking for sites to build new flood defences in a bid to protect Horncastle.

Next month they will begin assessing land close to the River Bain in a pro-active effort to prevent the flooding which has blighted the town in recent years.

Town representatives have already been told that the essential facility could have to go just north of the town, in an area known to have been occupied in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age – from 4,500BC to 1,200BC.

Shearman's Wath Henge, as it is called, was discovered in the early 1970s from aerial photographs which showed a circular form in crops.

Although there are no visible remains of what was almost certainly a timber circle, archaeologists can identify the site from tell-tale soil colouration.

The rivers Bain and Waring run through Horncastle. The town experiences a flood, on average, once every 25 years – four times above the national average.

Environment Agency spokesman Rita Penman said it will reassess the need for flood storage areas in the Horncastle area if Government funding is granted. An announcement on that is expected next month.

"Two potential areas have been identified in the past but it is a long process in trying to acquire the land from the landowners," she said.

For more on the prehistoric henge near Horncastle, see Monday's Echo.