The Environment Agency has concluded that a tidal-surge barrier may be the most economically-sustainable flood defence for Bridgwater, while the tidal-exclusion sluice favoured by Sedgemoor District Council has environmental disadvantages. Its feasibility report is part of development of long-term options for tidal flooding in the area, which includes work by the council on the sluice, and studies of its potential benefits for regeneration in Bridgwater and improving inland waterway navigation. Council regeneration project manager Nitin Sharma said the reports were complementary. ‘Once we’ve got them, we can put them together and compare effects,’ he said.