SIR - The Government's response to the recent flooding in the South of England has been totally inadequate. They have failed to invest in flood defences.

Recent investment and plans announced to deal with the flood are three years old. Action needs to be taken now.

For example, the drainage systems cannot cope, they date back to the Victorian times and constantly overflow.

The Government also needs to abandon its policy of building on flood planes as this will only make flooding worse.

It is wrong to expect people to move or to buy homes the Government know to be a danger to them.

The Government knows what is going to happen when the floods come, so if they are going to allow homes to be built, why not make sure they are built where there is no risk.

One way of making sure there are no floods is to replace the drainage system. This especially refers to Idle village.

The drains there have neither been cleaned out on a regular basis nor replaced. They have been there since Victorian times.

If the Council would put more money into looking after villages like Idle village, they would be doing all that they should do.

J A Wills, secretary, Idle Village Tenants and Residents Association, c/o Idle Baptist Church and Community Centre, Bradford Road, Idle