DEVON County Council has pledged a £1,000 contribution to South Zeal's community resilience flood scheme as part of a £60,000 investment in a number of 'quick-win' schemes to address flood issues.

In 2000, 14 homes were flooded after heavy rain on Cosdon Hill sent a deluge of water down the Ramsley stream. The 70-metre culvert carrying the stream under properties and the road through the village was overwhelmed.

The village now has robust flood prevention schemes in place, with flood-boards and pumps. Villagers have also taken part in Exercise Watermark, a nationwide flood readiness exercise. In a trial run, they installed their flood protection boards in 30 minutes. The £1,000 will be put toward improving the watercourse.

The scheme is one of several small ones identified by Devon County Council to help communities which bore the brunt of last year's floods. While South Zeal escaped the worst of flooding last year, the donation recognises past flooding problems in the village.

The findings were partly based on the Flood Investigation Report into last summer's floods, produced by the county council in partnership with the Environment Agency, district councils and South West Water.

Cllr Stuart Hughes, chair of the Devon Flood Risk Management Partnership and Devon County Council cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: 'Communities have played a big part in highlighting the actions we're now putting into place, by providing important information at the flood surgeries and drop-in events.

'A lot of these measures, such as debris grills, may seem minor in themselves, but they should have a considerable impact in tackling the problems which compounded the effect of the heavy rainfall which Devon suffered last year. These schemes should help to protect our communities and make them more resilient against flooding in future.'