THE LATEST floods to hit North Tawton last week have left 'a sense of despair' in the community but it could be two years before funding for a complete alleviation scheme is forthcoming.

Distraught residents, some of whom have been flooded three times in the last year, are on tenterhooks waiting for the next downpour.

'It is only October and it is just going to get worse and more frequent,' said past flood victim and campaigner Sarah Down.

'I have no faith in the authorities until someone sticks their hand up and says 'we will take responsibility'.

Mrs Down said the people of North Tawton were not known for screaming loudly but they were starting to now.

'There is a sense of despair here at the moment — it has got beyond a joke — something has to be done,' she said.

Four homes and a builders' merchants were flooded last Wednesday night after torrential rain. Drafted-in sandbags prevented many more properties falling victim to the floods.

Following pressure from North Tawton Town Council a £20,000 survey was commissioned by the borough council to find out the sources of the flooding problems in North Tawton and who is responsible for what.

The report is due out next month but it cannot come soon enough for Michelle and Ian Simons who were left cleaning up the mess after water and sewage flooded their house in Fore Street.

'It came up through the drain at the back door and before we knew it was in the house and up to our ankles,' said Michelle, who has two young children.

'We had just got the house straight after the floods at Christmas and now it has happened all over again. It is devastating.'

Michelle has praised the four fire crews and neighbours who prevented more water getting into the property.

'We have had a lot of support and help from local people which has been brilliant but someone has got to do something to stop it — who knows when we could be back in this situation again.'

Locals have called for a halt to any new housing development until the flooding problems have been sorted out.

Roger Collins, the borough council's head of building services, said not only did North Tawton have the River Taw running through it, together with a complex system of streams which feed into the river, but the community also had an old sewerage system.

He said: 'In isolation the problems are little in flooding terms but with three or four areas of the town at risk it becomes a bigger problem.

'We have asked the engineers to give us a list of short-fix solutions and some long-term fixes but we realise there is not sufficient money to do the latter at the moment.'

Mr Collins said it could be two years before there was any major funding from MAFF for an integrated scheme that would solve all the problems but improvements could be carried out sooner to make the situation three or four times better for the residents.

Spokesman for South West Water Stephen Swain said the sewerage system had operated as it was supposed to on Wednesday night but the floods were a result of 'extreme rainfall'.

A survey team was visiting the properties in Fore Street to see if any further assistance could be given to try and stop the backing up of sewage flows in the householders' own drainage systems, he said.

West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett is planning to hold a meeting following the publication of the flooding report with all authorities and agencies including South West Water and the Environment Agency.

'There has got to be a plan of action implemented as soon as possible,' he said. 'It is intolerable for the people of North Tawton to suffer like this.

'The agencies have to honour the statutory obligations that are imposed on them and I will be ensuring they do so.'