Flood victims need cash help, says council leader

Dozens of properties have been flooded with warnings still in place in Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire

People who have been caught up in the January floods should be given financial support by the government, according to a council leader.

Dozens of properties have been flooded since 10 January with warnings still in place for areas around Boston and Lincoln in Lincolnshire, as well as near Beverley and Hull in East Yorkshire.

Martin Hill, leader of Lincolnshire County Council has urged the government to give grants to those affected after emergency aid was previously offered to flood-hit communities impacted by Storm Henk.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the government had committed £2.4bn over the next two years to bolster flood defences.

Martin Hill said his council had spent up to £6m on "better equipment for drains" but called for further investment especially for major watercourses

Hill said the situation had been "horrendous" for flood-hit communities including Boston where almost 90 properties had been flooded internally.

"We had two inches of rain in about two hours.

"Many villages - Billingborough, Pointon, Greatford and places like that all had this sudden rush of water. I was here on Monday going through the middle of the village, it was up to the top of your wellies.

"Sadly a lot of houses have been flooded and even worse, some houses have been reflooded [after flooding] a year ago. So [it's a] pretty desperate situation which we are doing our best to sort out."

Hill said pumps were used to remove floodwater as part of the relief effort.

The government pledged £2.4bn to be invested in flood defences nationwide

The council had spent up to £6m on "better equipment for drains" but Hill called for further investment to "maintain what we've got... because it [flooding] will keep on happening".

"We would say to government, first of all, you need to put more money in - a lot more money. Is the government going to come forward with support for households?

"There needs to be more investment in major watercourses across the whole country, but particularly in Lincolnshire," he said.

The Defra spokesperson said the government had "inherited flood defences in their worst condition on record" and the £2.4bn investment would "bolster the nation's resilience, by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences".

It is believed about 200 properties have been flooded externally and internally across the Greater Lincolnshire region including areas around Grimsby and Scunthorpe.

Mr Hill praised how communities had rallied around to support those affected including "several people [who] had to be rescued because they couldn't get out of the house".

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.