VICTIMS of the floods that tore through Williton last November are being urged to share their stories at a public meeting in the village.

Representatives of the Environment Agency, West Somerset Council and Somerset County Council, including those with responsibility for civil contingencies, are expected to be at the meeting which gets underway at 7pm on January 24.

And Williton Parish Council, which has set up the event, is hoping that people affected by the floods - which happened when the Monksilver Stream burst its banks - will bring photographic and verbal evidence of their experiences.

An estimated 24 properties are believed to have been hit by the torrent of water that poured through the village, with homes and businesses in High Street, Robert Street and Bridge Street amongst the worst affected.

Parish council chairman Cllr Robert McDonald said this week that victims had been left traumatised by the flooding.

"I want the authorities to confirm when they last carried out any sort of survey of Williton so we can find out just how diligent they have been with regard to the effect of flooding, knowing that we live on a flood plain," he told the council's monthly meeting on Monday.

Cllr McDonald said he had walked around and checked many of the tributaries where water should have been able to flow.

"Many of them were blocked or silted up - I want to know who is responsible for what."

Cllr McDonald, who will chair the public meeting, also reiterated his call for an emergency plan of action to be drawn up to help people affected by flooding.

"Some people were up to their waists in water on the night it happened," he said.

"We need somewhere where people can get a hot drink and get warm and dry.

"We have a number of people who were very badly hit - I'm not saying we can make it go away but we need to see if any lessons can be learned and if there is anything that can be done.

"It is not the monetary cost or the damage to the property so much as the psychological effect of flooding.

"There are people in the village who have lost everything and they are definitely psychologically traumatised by what has happened to them."

Councillors will be mounting a photographic display at the meeting and want anyone with specific questions to be put to the authority representatives attending to contact council clerk Jude Johnson-Smith or Sarah Towells on 01984 633979.

Tea and coffee will be available from 6.30pm before the meeting begins.