People in two properties are refusing to evacuate despite the immediate threat of flood waters destroying barriers just feet from their houses.
Emergency flood barriers are set to "buckle" and collapse sending flood waters gushing into Ironbridge in Shropshire.
West Mercia Police has urgently warned all residents behind the barriers in the town to evacuate.
However it is reported that occupants of two properties are refusing to leave.
Chief superintendent Tom Harding said all but two properties have been evacuated from behind the barriers.
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Sue Austin of the Shropshire Star reports the police chief has warned those people who are refusing to leaving that any rescue would be "complex and dangerous" for the occupants of the properties and the emergency services.
One occupant has also opted not to move a car parked within yards of the riverside.
Meanwhile Shaun Davies, leader of the local Telford and Wrekin council, has said it seems inevitable the barriers will give way.
Residents of the Shropshire town have been warned to "stay away" after West Mercia Police launched an "immediate evacuation" of Ironbridge today over concerns that the defences will "buckle" under rising flood waters.
There is a "significant risk to life" and people should "remain vigilant and to listen to the advice that's coming from the emergency services," said Marc Lidderth of the Environemnt Agency.
Ironbridge is the latest town to be affected by flooding caused by recent heavy rain which overwhelmed barriers in nearby Bewdley last night .
Video footage from Bewdley shows how flood water spilled out from the Severn as it approached record-breaking levels, which was 5.56m in November 2000, the Environment Agency said.
The level has risen more than two metres in the past 72 hours, jumping from 3.36 metres at 9.15am on Sunday.
Mr Davies said earlier today: "The barriers are buckling, overwhelmed by the pure volume of water in the River Severn and the prolonged pressure they have been under.
"This is a developing situation but it has significantly developed and increased in terms of its dangerousness with regards to the barriers collapsing."
"West Mercia Police chief superintendent Tom Harding, in a video on his Twitter account, said officers were visiting residents of the Wharfage, on the banks of the River Severn in Ironbridge, to tell them to evacuate.
He said: "Potentially, we've got water that has started to come underneath the flood barriers and in areas it appears that it is buckling.
"We want to be open and transparent with the public and residents here so they make that informed decision to come with us.
He added: “This is an emerging situation, and we won’t know how many residents are affected until the evacuation is complete. Our priority is protecting people’s lives and properties.
Police could be seen knocking on doors along the riverside to ensure that residents living on Wharfage had left their homes.
Barriers were also erected in side streets to ensure that people did not approach the river.
Temporary flood defences along Wharfage had been pushed back towards a pub and other businesses, sparking fears that the defences could be fully breached.
In PMQs today Jeremy Corbyn branded Boris Johnson a "part-time Prime Minister" over his failure to visit flood-hit communities.
He accused the Tory leader of only "pretending to care" because there is not an election - unlike in November, when Mr Johnson posed with a mop during flooding in Derbyshire.
