Suffolk MP says flood victims need access to cash support faster

Flood victims in Suffolk should be receiving financial support faster, an MP has said.

Flood-hit households can apply for £500 and businesses £2,500 to help with costs following Storm Babet.

Dan Poulter has criticised East Suffolk Council, which is handling payments, saying the process is "overly bureaucratic".

The council says it is "working tirelessly to ensure the right money goes to the right people".

The number of properties and businesses affected by Storm Babet in October had reached 750, according to Suffolk County Council.

Met Office data showed between 75mm (3in) and 100mm (4in) of rain fell across East Anglia during the four-day storm.

Mr Poulter, who represents Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, has written a letter to the leader of East Suffolk Council.

In the letter, seen by the BBC, he says he is receiving "increasing numbers of enquiries from local residents who need urgent funds, but who have either received no response from their local councillor, or no response or help from the council".

He went on to say: "Some East Suffolk councillors are currently more concerned about creating hedgehog highways than supporting their residents whose homes have been flooded."

Caroline Topping, the Green Party leader of the council, said: "Unfortunately, the detail required from government was not immediate, particularly for businesses.

"It is a shame that he has pointedly failed to also recognise the efforts of local ward councillors at the time, some of whom barely slept for days during a period of high anxiety and stress for so many people.

"As importantly, at a time when people of all political colours are coming together and putting their communities first, it is also deeply disappointing that he is once again resorting to cheap jibes, this time about hedgehogs."

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