The situation in northwestern Bulgaria around Vidin is slowly being normalised as water levels have receded by 15cm in 15 hours, the Bulgarian private television channel bTV reported on March 2 2010.

The Timok River burst its banks after the Danube River spilled over and flooded the Timok. Reportedly, both rivers then contributed to the mayhem as vast swathes of farmland were flooded. Once the levies were breached by the water, units from Civil Protection had to remove some of the levies in order to allow for the water to drain faster.

The emergency situation was declared late on February 28 by Vidin mayor Milcho Lalov and will remain in effect until the water recedes by at least another metre, reports say. Units from Civil Protection, with more than 250 volunteers, were struggling tirelessly to contain the river and reinforce the levies.

Lalov said that the situation should be normalised within two days if there is no further rain. He also said that the floods occurred partially because the levies were not properly maintained, bTV reported.

"In order for them to be properly looked after, their status has to be clarified," he said.

"Currently, some of the levies are simply beyond regulation. They are not municipal property, they were not built with municipal resources, at some point it transpired that no one is responsible for their maintenance," he added.

"This will not happen again," Lalov said.

On March 1 it was revealed that financial compensation will be made available to the region in the wake of severe damage inflicted on farms and arable land by the floods in Bregovo, Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naidenov told reporters.

Teams of experts are tasked with surveying the beleaguered area and assessing damages caused by the River Timok which burst its banks and flooded a vast expanse of arable land.