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'Services could be cut' to pay for flood defences

Reuters A white van is seen half covered by water in what appears to be a car park. Trees and a compound with vehicles are visible in the background.Reuters
Many drivers found their vehicles trapped in the water after the heavy rainfall in Northamptonshire

Services could be cut to pay for new flood defences in a county suffering the effects of this week's heavy rain, a council leader has said.

Houses and roads in parts of Northamptonshire have been flooded and 43 people had to be rescued from a holiday park.

Adam Brown, of Conservative-controlled West Northamptonshire Council, said work costing tens of millions of pounds was needed.

Environment Minister Steve Reed made no new commitment to extra funding for flood defences, but did commit to ensuring money meant for flood protection was used for it.

In Grendon, one of the worst affected villages in the county, people have been forced out of their homes for months while damage is repaired.

Businesses near the River Nene have had to close and tourist destinations such as Sulgrave Manor have been unable to open.

Mr Brown said the council had been trying to reduce the risk of flooding by clearing about 20,000 drains since April, but did not have the infrastructure "designed to cope with that volume of rainfall".

Adam Brown, with short brown hair, wearing a blue jacket and blue and white striped shirt, standing outside an office building with rotating glass doors.
Adam Brown, leader of West Northamptonshire Council, hopes central government will provide more money for flood defences

He said the council had been carrying out inspections to find where upgrades were needed and that the work would cost "millions, if not tens of millions".

Mr Brown said: "If central government aren't going to give us the funding, then we have two choices: we cut services somewhere else to find the money or we find another method of charging residents to up our income as a council.

"I don't want to do the latter."

He pledged to lobby ministers for "the funding that West Northamptonshire needs to protect its residents better in the future".

Steve Reed with short grey hair and beard, wearing a grey jacket and striped shirt stands in front of a flooded field
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said a new task force would make sure money allocated to flood defences was spent on them

On a visit to Northampton, Mr Reed explained what action the government was taking.

"We've set up a flood resilience task force that's looking at how we make sure the funding that's been allocated is actually spent, because in the past we found it hadn't been and there's literally no point in money sitting in a bank when it could have been spent on flood defences to keep those communities and businesses much safer," he said.

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