Brown visits flooded British towns

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown saw at first hand the devastation caused by floods across large swathes of Gloucestershire, England, during a 15-minute helicopter flight this morning.

In response to the widespread devestation he announced that his government would set up a comprehensive review into the flooding which would focus on drainage and how the infrastructure could be protected against further flooding.

Beleaguered local authorities are set to receive extra funding to pay for emergency work to deal with the flooding.

Mr Brown also announced that the British government would increase the amount of money spent on flood and coastal defences across Britiain.

Brown also paid a visit to Gloucestershire Police headquarters to see how emergency services are dealing with ongoing flooding in the south-west of England.

He was briefed by the multi-agency team – Gold Command, made up of heads of police, fire, ambulance, local authorities and other groups co-ordinating the response to the floods.

He was then guided around the Silver Command centre to listen to emergency calls coming in from across the county.

Speaking to the media following the tour, he said: “We have got to meet the longer-term challenges and we have already set up a review into what’s happened both with climate change and the effect of that on the services and what is happening here.

“We will have to look at what happens with drainage in the future and we will have to look at other areas to be sure that the infrastructure is properly protected and properly safe.

“The Government will provide additional sums of money under the Belwin formula. We will provide 100% for local authorities for the emergency work they are doing.

“We are going to be increasing the money that goes to flood and coastal defences so that we can be as well protected as possible in the future.”