Somerset County Council welcomed dredging starting on the Somerset Levels today after committing £1m to dredging and local flood prevention schemes earlier this year.

The County Council stumped up £800,000 towards dredging with a further £200,000 committed for local flood prevention schemes in January and Council Leader Cllr John Osman was there today to see the first dredger in action.

Cllr Osman said: “It’s great to finally see dredging has started today along 8 kilometres of the Rivers Parrett and Tone. Flood affected communities and the County Council have campaigned long and hard for this day. This is the first step in a much larger plan that will hopefully mitigate against future effects of flooding.”

Cllr Osman continued: “Dredging is part of our 20 year Action Plan approved by central Government. We will continue to work with communities, agencies and the Government to take forward other mitigation schemes we, along with our partners, have proposed.”