VILLAGERS in Williton will be given a chance to air their views on recent flooding problems at a public meeting later this month.

Parish council chairman Cllr Robert McDonald mooted the idea of the open forum debate after an estimated 24 homes and businesses fell victim to the torrent of water that poured through the village when the Monksilver Stream burst its banks at the end of November.

The equivalent of a month's rainfall in just a few days meant the stream reached its highest recorded level.

At the time Cllr McDonald said he believed an emergency plan should be drawn up to ensure people affected by any future incidents had immediate access to help.

And this week he said the public meeting - on January 24 - would provide an opportunity to see if any lessons could be learnt.

"I toured the area, looking at the various tributaries, after the last incident," said Cllr McDonald.

"I don't know if anything can be done to prevent it from happening again but there are a lot of questions to be asked and answered.

"I want to know exactly who has responsibility for what, from clearing trees and other blockages from the streams and rivers to a range of other issues.

"Everyone needs to try and work together on this."

Cllr McDonald said he had been almost brought to tears by the damage caused to homes in the recent flooding.

"I was invited in to several properties and found children stuck upstairs while their parents were desperately trying to mop up the ground floor - it was heartbreaking.

"We need to have some sort of plan of action that gives people somewhere warm and dry to go when a disaster like this strikes.

"We need to try and be better prepared."

Representatives from the Environment Agency and West Somerset Council will be at the public meeting, which is being organised by the parish council.

It will be held in the district council chamber in Killick Way but a time has yet to be arranged.

Properties in Robert Street, High Street, Bridge Street and Fore Street were among the worst hit in November when the junction of the A358 and A39 roads through the village became a river, sending around two feet of water gushing along the highway.

"In the past we have been told that these sorts of flooding incidents happen once every 100 years or so," said Cllr McDonald.

"But they are happening all too frequently. I think November's flooding was a wake-up call and we need to listen to it."