RESIDENTS in South Zeal welcomed environment minister and North Cornwall MP Dan Rogerson to the village this week, to show him how the community has taken measures to brace itself against future flooding.

Some villagers in South Zeal have had their homes flooded, usually after heavy rain, which runs off Dartmoor and causes Ramsley Stream to rise, flooding nearby properties.

The MP was told how a dozen or so properties have been affected, but only occasionally, and had introduced measures to tackle the problem with help from the council, the Environment Agency, some specialist advice and a small amount of government funding.

From this, the affected residents have had done work to their drainage, protected their properties and created an action plan of what to do if there is risk of a flood.

Mr Rogerson said: 'In a small community like this where only a few properties are affected but it is very extreme for them, we want to put in funding to work with partners, so they can do property level protection.

'That's what we are hearing more about now — how the community can help themselves with a bit of support.'