FLOODING in an East Lancashire valley has been raised with the government.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Jake Berry asked environment minister Victoria Prentis if another £8million could be found to pay for a £19m scheme to protect properties in the Irwell Vale.

The Tory backbencher secure a special debate in the House of Commons second Westminster Hall chamber to discuss the need to upgrade flood defences after four major incidents in the last 15 years.

He told Mrs Prentis: "Homes and businesses in Whitworth, Bacup, Stacksteads, Waterfoot, Darwen, Rawtenstall, Helmshore, Irwell Vale, Strongstry and Chatterton have been devastated by floods.

"The reason is the same reason we are one of the most picturesque and beautiful areas in the United Kingdom: our lovely rivers. We have the Limey Water, the Whitewell brook, the Darwen, the Spodden, the Ogden and the Irwell.

"In the summer, they are beautiful, burbling brooks; in the winter, they become raging torrents.

"It has proved historically difficult to mitigate the flood risk because the water comes from a wide catchment area. I have visited those communities on several occasions after they have flooded and the impact on their lives has been completely devastating.

"The Irwell is a river previously thought to flood very infrequently. However, it has flooded in 2007, 2012, 2015 and 2020. The communities have the dual risk of overland flooding. It is not just raised river levels; they are in a deep, sheer-sided valley and when there is heavy rainfall the flooding can come from the back of the houses as well as the front.

"The problem faced by Irwell Vale residents is that the grant in aid funding will not cover the cost of the project needed. If the scheme is to deliver meaningful and sustainable solutions, we will have to look at a cocktail of government funding.

"The estimated cost of the project is £19.6 million, We have already secured just over £11 million. That brings me to the rump, the £8 million, for which we are looking to the government for support."

Mrs Prentis said: "I am firmly reassured by the Environment Agency that it is leaving no stone unturned to try to source the remainder of the funding."

Mr Berry said after the debate: "The floods have wreaked havoc and caused misery for hundreds of residents. I very much hope we will be able make progress on new flood defences soon”