The District Councils’ Network (DCN) has warned that councils are facing a rise in river maintenance spending due to the Environment Agency cutting back its work.

With funding from the agency due to end in April, the DCN has argued that ‘urgent expenditure is required to reduce flood risk’, otherwise taxpayers will pay the price.

Following the Environment Agency’s reprioritisation of which areas will receive flood protections, the DCN has suggested that areas such as Lincolnshire and Somerset could be some of the regions worst affected, with ‘significant areas of land’ and small communities considered most vulnerable.

‘Floods could hit smaller villages, make roads impassable, devastate local economies and agriculture, and damage the local environment, unless local taxpayers fund the work. Councils are expected to prioritise vital river maintenance work over other areas of expenditure’, says the DCN.

Councils have reportedly called on the Government to subsidise the costs of river maintenance, warning that local services will otherwise need to be cut.

Cllr Paul Redgate, Chair of the Internal Drainage Boards Interest Group, said: ‘We urge the Government to step in and provide extra funding for communities which, through no fault of their own, face growing risk of floods. The alternative could be catastrophic flooding and economic devastation. It’s a matter of fairness and common sense.’

Cllr Richard Wright, Chair of the DCN and a councillor in Lincolnshire, added: ‘The sums of money required to maintain river maintenance are miniscule for national government – but rising costs can be devastating for individual district councils, giving them no option but to cut other services.

‘The overall costs of flooding through the damage to property, devastation of local economies and the hit to agriculture would be enormous to the nation. Let’s get this maintenance work properly funded, with the costs borne fairly, sparing society and the taxpayer future misery and costs.’

A Defra spokesperson said: ‘This Government has committed a record £10.5bn flooding investment by 2036, which will protect nearly 900,000 homes and businesses from billions of pounds in damage.

‘We have updated our flood funding rules to ensure a better balance between new projects and asset maintenance, with more than £100m reprioritised for urgent maintenance works.’