Fears are growing that Yalding could be left without working flood pumps after an electricity distributor company went back on its flood defence promises.

Geraldine Brown, chairman of Yalding Parish Council says that after the floods in 2013, which left hundreds of houses without power for a week, UK Power Networks (UKPN) promised to raise one electrical substation, near Burgess Bank Surgery, above flood level and move another at The Square.

But she says no action has been taken.

She is concerned a raft of costly flood resilience measures bought in by the Environment Agency will be wasted, and if there is no power, emergency flood pumps won’t work.

Mrs Brown said: “You have central government paying all this money for pumps for houses but if substations lose electricity we will go back to the dark ages.

The two stations provide power to 246 properties in the village, vulnerable to flooding and more than 200 homes have flood doors, barriers and pumps.

The Environment Agency spends up to £1million a year on reducing flood risk in the Medway area.

Helen Grant, Maidstone and the Weald MP described the situation as worrying and agreed the pumps could be affected. She has raised her concerns with UKPN as “a matter of urgency.”

She said: “I was very concerned when the continuing lack of protection for the power substations in the village was brought to my attention. Disruption to the power supply could prevent flood pumps from being used to protect properties and businesses. There has been progress, but more can be done.

A UKPN spokesman said: “After the 2013 floods we put in place protocols to monitor and assess rapid flooding at this substation. We installed remote control equipment to help our engineers re-route local power supplies if the existing equipment flooded. We take temporary measures when we are alerted to the risk of flooding, as in this case.”

The Environment Agency did not confirm whether the pumps in Yalding would be affected if the stations lost power.

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