Call for urgent action in villages hit by floods

The river Yeo floods into the roads in Mudford besides the church

People in three Somerset villages are calling for urgent action to protect their homes from flooding.

Earlier this year suspected human bones were found in Mudford after flooding led to the erosion of the local cemetery.

The community there has now joined forces with residents in Ashington and Chilton Cantelo, near Yeovil, to set up the 3 Villages Flood Group to campaign for support.

"These villages have always flooded," said the group's chairwoman Kay Mackenzie. "But over the past five years it has happened more often, to a higher level - it's faster and it's flooding in really weird places, places where it's never flooded before."

Ms Mackenzie said the cost of flooding to residents has been "immense".

"The anxiety is immense," she added. "People are isolated, they are frightened, they don't know what to do."

The river Yeo floods into the roads in Mudford besides the church

The group wants to advocate for change, increase preparedness for flooding and resilience, and raise awareness by working with other organisations.

It also wants to train flood wardens and trial ideas like "adopt a drain", where volunteers will take responsibility for clearing rubbish and debris.

Ms MacKenzie explained the group is linked with the Somerset Rivers Authority, a larger organisation which is itself a partnership with others like councils and the Environment Agency.

Representatives from those organisations were at the community meeting on Saturday to speak with the public.

Kay Mackenzie said the flooding had worsened in recent years

Sarah Dyke, the Liberal Democrat MP for Glastonbury and Somerton, was at the meeting and said she had been working to secure funding for communities.

"It's priority of mine to make sure my communities are resilient to flooding," she said.

There was also a focus at the meeting on how to handle a planned new development of 1,000 homes.

The group is now looking for locals who would be interested in becoming flood wardens, helpers for vulnerable people, or willing to adopt drains.

The latter would involve keeping an eye on a nearby drain and unblocking any obvious rubbish and debris that gets stuck.