SIMON Haslett is better known in Usk as a popular folk singer and member of Usk Town Band, but he is equally passionate about the research he has carried out on the Severn estuary over the past decade. A professor and Head of Geography in Bath Spa's School of Science and the Environment, Simon's concerns about the proposed Severn Barrage, which he highlighted at a conference in Canada, have raised considerable interest at home.

As well as regional newspaper coverage, Simon has been interviewed on BBC1 Points West, Radio Bristol and Radio Gloucester, where he has reiterated that Canada has found barrages to be inefficient and damaging to the environment.

He said: "Canada now only uses turbines that are placed in the tidal stream, which can generate electricity from high and low tides and can be hidden in the estuary bed. There is great surprise that we are still considering a barrage system. If they are right we shouldn't waste millions of taxpayers' money considering a barrage, but should move on to assessing other methods of generating electricity from the tides."