Somerset flooding: Army and Marines drafted in to help victims on Levels

 
Devastating: a dog-walker beside the flooded River Tone in Somerset
PA

Hundreds of troops are on stand-by to help victims of the devastating floods in the Somerset Levels.

Royal Marines and soldiers may be deployed within hours to boost the rescue operation, as more heavy rain is forecast to hit the region.

They are expected to fill thousands of sandbags, rescue families who have been cut off and provide supplies.

Military experts were urgently putting together plans to ratchet up the relief mission after David Cameron took personal charge. The Government and Environment Agency are facing growing criticism over their response to the flooding, which some communities have been living with for weeks.

Flooding: parts of Hyde Park are submerged (Picture: Glenn Copus)

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson was met with hostility when he visited the county earlier this week, with farmers, politicians and church leaders demanding immediate action to improve what furious residents described as “Third World” conditions.

The Prime Minister told MPs yesterday that dredging of rivers on the Levels would start as soon as possible once water levels had gone down.

The Ministry of Defence said Somerset county council had only now asked for assistance. But a council spokesman said the authority had been in discussions with the military for weeks.

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