Prime Minister David Cameron told the House of Commons yesterday that the Environment Agency will begin dredging the rivers in the Somerset Levels which continues to be badly affected by flooding "as soon as it is practical."

Mr. Cameron was speaking at Prime Minister’s Question time in response to a request from Taunton MP Jeremy Browne for a commitment to take immediate action to try to clear the flood water from the Somerset levels as soon as possible and to put in place a long-term plan to try to make sure that it did not happen again.

The Prime Minister told MPs:

“I can give my hon. Friend both those assurances. Cobra will be meeting again this afternoon to explore what more we can do to help the villagers in the Somerset levels. The current situation is not acceptable. I can tell him that it is not currently safe to dredge in the levels, but I can confirm that dredging will start as soon as it is practical, as soon as the waters have started to come down. “

“The Environment Agency is pumping as much water as is possible given the capacity of the rivers around the levels, but I have ordered that further high-volume pumps from the Department for Communities and Local Government’s national reserve will be made available to increase the volume of the pumping operation as soon as there is capacity in the rivers to support that.”

David Cameron added that the Government was  urgently exploring what further help it could give to local residents to move around and that he ruled nothing out in the days ahead “to get this problem sorted.”

Following yesterday’s announcement, it has been announced that the Ministry of Defence is now involved in discussions about help for the beleaguered communities including support manpower, amphibious vehicles and extra sandbags which could be in place within 24 hours.

The Government has rejected suggestions that it has been slow to respond to the flooding. Questions are also being asked about the long-term decision by the Environment Agency not to carry regular dredging over a number of years.

Further flooding is now predicted over the weekend due to a combination of more heavy rain and coastal surges as a result of high spring tides, with Wales and South West England particularly at risk.

The Environment Agency currently has 28 flood warnings in place where flooding is expected and immediate action required and 162 flood alerts where flooding is possible.