Householders and business owners across Maidstone are being reminded to prepare and protect themselves from flooding, one month after several parts of the borough were submerged in water.

Homes at the Little Venice caravan park in Yalding were evacuated just before Christmas following torrential downpours as the River Medway burst its banks in the town centre.

Surrounding areas were also badly affected, including Tonbridge, where a property management company's failure to remove flood water from an underground car park has left a number of vehicles written off.

As part of Flood Action Week, which the Environment Agency runs to raise awareness of what to do in such circumstances, Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) is advising people sign up to official warnings.

These will alert them to risks of flooding, and see them contacted by phone, email or text when particularly bad weather conditions are expected.

The council is also reminding people they are responsible for their own flood protection equipment, which may include sandbags.

If they believe their home is at risk, they should buy these from builders’ merchants now and store them at home ready to react quickly if there’s a problem, the local authority added.

Cllr Martin Cox, leader of MBC, said: “Taking action and being prepared for flooding not only reduces damage to possessions and the cost of flooding to homeowners, but it also reduces the long-term mental health impacts of being flooded.

"We are urging everyone to consider the impact of flooding and get themselves prepared.

“The impact of flooding is huge, during the recent flooding over Christmas we worked very closely with the Environment Agency and acted quickly to help evacuate and provide accommodation for those residents who needed it and our waste and street cleansing teams worked hard to return our borough to normal afterwards.”

Yalding Parish Council chairman Geraldine Brown said there were no outstanding issues remaining in the village from last month's disruption.

Further advice can be found on the council website here.

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