Brown pledges £14m floods fund

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged a £14 million emergency support package during a visit to areas recently stricken by flooding.

The PM made the announcement on a visit to the north of England, including Toll Bar, the Doncaster village which was particularly devastated by the torrential rain.

Thousands are still clearing up two weeks after torrential rain hit Humberside, Yorkshire and the Midlands, overwhelming drains and river banks.

The reconstruction fund includes £10 million for local authorities to support recovery work, including getting people who have lost everything back on their feet.

Another £3 million has been allocated to the repair of roads and bridges and £1 million will go towards helping vulnerable individuals and their families replace essential household items.

The money will be separate from so-called Bellwin funds which local authorities can claim for the non-insurable costs of disasters.

And councils will also be able to reclaim 100 per cent of their costs, rather than the usual 85 per cent, and will be given six months instead of the normal two to assess how much money is needed.

Mr Brown said: "I would like to pay tribute to the heroic efforts of those who have responded to the floods locally.

"The emergency and rescue services, local authorities, Environment Agency, voluntary sector and individual members of the public have been brave and determined in what are very distressing circumstances."

He continued: "I am taking immediate action to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the floods by announcing a £14 million package of support to get people back on their feet as quickly as possible.

"Government will continue to work closely with local councils and communities as we do everything possible to help."

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

Post to Fark Post to del.icio.us Digg this story Post to reddit Post to Facebook Post to StumbleUpon Seed Newsvine Post to GNN Post to MySpace