Flood victims 'want reassurances'

Research conducted by the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) claimed residents in Gloucestershire, one of the worst hit areas, want measures put in place to ensure flooding on that scale is not repeated.

The county bore the brunt of the devastating floods which struck five weeks ago. Three people died and thousands of homes were flooded as torrential rain brought misery and chaos.

More than 140,000 households were left without clean mains water for more than 10 days after a water treatment works in Tewkesbury was crippled by the rising water.

Thousands of people were forced to queue at bowsers - temporary water tankers - or rely on handouts of bottled water, as normal life ground to a halt.

Severn Trent Water said at the time of the deluge that because the flooding was "completely unprecedented" normal rules for compensation did not apply. But the company did give £3.5 million to communities affected by flooding in lieu of compensation.

The study found that Gloucestershire residents accepted the flooding was unprecedented and the majority did not want compensation for the disruption caused.

But many of the residents said they were angry about inadequate contingency planning.

They told CCWater that many were forced to rely on word of mouth and radio reports for information and that communication with Severn Trent Water was patchy and inconsistent.

CCWater said it would now be making its research available to Ofwat and Severn Trent Water.