During 2009-10, we completed nine schemes to reduce the risk of internal flooding to 32 properties and external flooding to 110 areas, including gardens and roads.

We created a new Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) in Maidstone, Kent. The environmentally-friendly system channels excess surface water back into the ground so it can soak away naturally and not flow into sewers and overload them. This type of scheme has a lower carbon footprint than traditional schemes and also provides a natural habitat for plants and wildlife.

At Folkestone in Kent, we carried out a £1.4 million scheme to help protect historic homes from flooding by installing an underground storage tank and pumping station.

The cliff-top homes, whose residents have included Charles Dickens, TS Elliott and HG Wells during summer months, were liable to flooding during heavy rain. The new storm tank can store 800,000 litres of wastewater during heavy rain before it is pumped away for treatment.

In Herne Bay, Kent, we invested £1.5 million to lay a new 140m sewer and install a 480 cubic metre storage tank – larger than five double-deck buses – to help protect nearby properties from flooding.

New sewers and a pumping station were also built at Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex to create a more robust wastewater network. In Sayers Common, West Sussex, we safeguarded homes against flooding with a £900,000 scheme to build more storage into the network.