Authorities failing to grasp seriousness of flooding

9.49.32am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 3rd Jun 2008

Authorities need to do more to tackle the threat of flooding across the County

The Government and our local authorities are failing to grasp the seriousness of flooding in Hampshire, according to Prospective Lib Dem MP for Meon Valley Liz Leffman.

The past week alone saw flash flooding cause chaos in areas of the county such as Southampton and Portsmouth, which lead to Portsmouth South Lib Dem MP Mike Hancock demanding answers from Southern Water as to why resources weren't in place to handle the situation.

Liz said: "Some areas in the Meon Valley constituency, such as Denmead and Rowlands Castle, are very vulnerable to flooding and I simply do not feel our local authorities or the Government are taking enough precautions to prevent chaos.

"Current national funding is totally inadequate. The Association of British Insurers has called for spending to be increased to £1bn, but the Government has only committed a further £200m that doesn't even come into full effect for another two years."

She added: "At the same time, our Conservative-led County Council's poor track record of maintaining our drainage systems is compounding the many problems we already have with regards to flooding threats."