MORPETH FLOOD IS WAKE UP CALL

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 19th Sep 2009

North East Lib Dems have used the Lib Dem Federal Conference in Bournemouth as a platform to call for ambitious investments in flood defences and measures to adapt to climate change in the region.

Ahead of Saturday's panel debate on environmental campaigning, Lib Dems from the region gathered at the beach in Bournemouth to pose with sandbags, highlighting the fact that around 19,000 properties in the North East are at risk from flooding from rivers or the sea and almost 25,000 more are at risk from surface flooding,

North East MEP Fiona Hall, one of the panellists in today's discussion, said:

"Last year's flooding of Morpeth, Rothbury and many other villages in Northumberland was a wake-up call for North East policy makers that investment in flood defences needs to be taking place NOW.

"Improved flood risk management is only the start of the huge task ahead of adapting to effects of climate change that are now inevitable. Of course we also need to act now to slash our carbon emissions in order to limit global warming to 2 degrees C and avoid climate chaos."

Sir Alan Beith MP, whose constituency Berwick upon Tweed has been hit hard by last year's flood, added:

"In the light of climate change and much more frequent freak weather events, it is clear that a much more integrated approach to flood risk management is essential. Agencies such as the Environment Agency and Natural England need to work hand-in-hand with local authorities and listen to local people."