Prince Charles visits Somerset to meet residents and emergency workers battling to salvage flood-hit communities and donates £50,000 to the clean-up fund

 

• Prince of Wales was introduced to homeowners, farmers and members of the emergency services
• He visited the village of Muchleney, which has been cut off for a month, and a family from Langport
• The area has seen some of the worst flooding in living memory, with whole villages cut off and homes flooded
• The Prince carried out the visit through his role as patron of the Prince's Countryside Fund.

By Lucy Crossley
Prince Charles today met flood-hit residents from the Somerset Levels and offered them his support by pledging a £50,000 donation to the clean-up operation.
Major-General Gerald Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster will match the funding with an additional £50,000 - taking the total donation to £100,000.
The Prince, who is patron of the Prince's Countryside Fund, which will provide the donation, met local residents, farmers and emergency services personnel who have been affected by the flooding as he braved heavy rain and winds in the area to attend a reception in Stoke St Gregory.

Help: The Prince of Wales met flood-hit residents on the Somerset Levels today and offered his support by pledging a £50,000 donation to the clean-up operation

Greeting: The Prince of Wales arrives at The Williams Hall in Stoke St Gregory, Somerset, to meet local residents and emergency service workers

Funding: The Prince's Countryside Fund has allocated £25,000 of the emergency funding to the Farming Help Partnership, made up of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, Farm Community Network and the Addington Fund

Dozens of schoolchildren, residents and campaigners greeted him as he arrived at the Williams Hall in the small Somerset village, near Taunton.
Later the Prince visited Muchelney, swapping his brown shoes for a pair of wellies as he met neighbours in the flood-hit town, which has been one of the worst affected by the poor weather.
He boarded a rescue boat to travel to the small village, which was cut off by the floods.
The Prince's Countryside Fund has allocated £25,000 of the emergency funding to the Farming Help Partnership, made up of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, Farm Community Network and the Addington Fund.

More...

• Hand over the reins to Charles? One's FAR too busy: As the Queen plans trips to see two world leaders AND the Pope, so much for talk of Her Majesty 'winding down'
• Cameron orders Environment Agency to scrap premium rate helpline as 'quickly as possible' after flood victims are charged up to 41p a MINUTE
• Now flood-hit homes are targeted by THIEVES who steal fuel and quad bikes as South West is battered by huge storm and swathes of Britain remain underwater

A further £25,000 has been given to the Somerset Community Foundation.
Speaking following the announcement, Victoria Elms of the Prince's Countryside Fund said: 'Rural communities in the South West are facing a second consecutive year of flooding.

Bracing: The Prince's visit to the Somerset Levels came as Britain braced itself for further storms and more flooding

Visit: The Prince of Wales was surrounded by excited villagers as he left the The Williams Hall, where he met local residents and emergency service workers

All aboard: Prince Charles boards a small rescue boat to travel to the flood-hit community of Muchleney

'The Prince's Countryside Fund exists to support the people who live and work in the countryside and we hope this financial aid will go some way to supporting the farmers, businesses and families who are facing severe hardships as a result of the flooding.
'Rural businesses are key to thriving communities and we want to help get hard-hit villages back on their feet and open for business.'
Communities from local areas including Muchelney, Thorney and other isolated hamlets have been cut off by the waters, with major roads closed.
The Somerset Levels suffered 'once in 100 years' flooding in 2012, with conditions returning to the area in recent weeks.

Suited and booted: The Prince of Wales donned his wellies to meet residents in the flood-hit community of Muchleney, Somerset

Flood plain: Communities from local areas including Muchelney have been cut off by the waters, with major roads closed

More than 128,000 acres are flooded, around 40 homes are under water and approximately 200 houses are cut off. In total, around 350 people are affected.
The Prince's Countryside Fund, founded by Charles, has supported Britain's hard-pressed rural areas since being set up by Business in the Community in July 2010.
Twice a year, the fund allocates grants to rural projects but it also reserves a portion of its income to be used in times of crisis.
Meanwhile, Britain was bracing itself for another bout of storms and flooding.
Further flooding is expected as high sea levels, strong winds and large waves combine to increase the risk in coastal regions.

Welcome party: Campaigners calling for dredging wait with school children for Prince Charles's arrival

Severe flood warnings are in force along the River Severn, while further heavy rainfall could see flooding for much of south-west and southern England.
The River Severn in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, the Frome and Avon in Dorset, the River Thames and its tributaries in Oxfordshire, west Berkshire, Reading, Slough and Hampshire, and the Medway in Kent could all be affected.
Since Friday evening, more than 87,000 homes have been protected from flooding, with 74,000 properties sent a free flood warning. Around 220 homes have been flooded.

Destruction: Beach huts have been blown over and destroyed as the vicious storms battered Abersoch in north Wales

Protection: One of the hut owners said he had desperately tried to safeguard his property only moments before the high tide was swept-in by the wind

Damage: Parts of the iconic huts were strewn across the wind-torn beach after an unusually high tide on Monday morning

Beach huts were blown over as vicious storm battered the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales, destroying the colourful Abersoch beach huts, which can sell for up to £145,000.
Parts of the iconic huts were strewn across the wind-torn beach after an unusually high tide hit on Monday morning.
One of the hut owners said he had desperately tried to safeguard his property only moments before the high tide was swept-in by the wind.

Celebrity: Bear Grylls is reported to own one of the beach huts along this stretch of coastline, although his hut is said to have escaped the storm unscathed

Costly: The beach huts, which can sell for as much as £145,000, were damaged in a storm

He said: 'The huts have survived all the recent storms and high tides but this latest unusually high tide has just been one too many.'
Bear Grylls is reported to own one of the beach huts along this stretch of coastline, although his hut is said to have escaped the storm.
Yesterday, a cheaper helpline for flooding victims was opened for calls from the public after David Cameron overruled quango bosses who said it was 'not appropriate' to publicise it during a flooding crisis.

Hope: As the rain subsides a rainbow appears over the city of London, along the Southbank

The new Floodline number - 0345 9881188 - was released after complaints that callers were being charged up to 41p a minute to call the existing Environment Agency helpline on the premium rate number 0845 9881188, with the money going to a private firm.
The 0345 number had already been set up and was operational as part of a wider Whitehall move away from pricier 0845 numbers, but the EA said it was not promoting it 'proactively' to avoid confusion.
But Downing Street said Mr Cameron wanted use of the premium number to be ended 'as quickly as it possibly can be', and it was later revealed that the new helpline was open for calls.

Anger: Locals have put up a sign reading: 'Stop the Flooding - Dredge the Rivers' on the River Parrett, at Barrow Mump, in Somerset, England

Warning: A road sign telling drivers to take care of pedestrians is seen on the flooded road between Langport and Muchelney in Somerset

Destitute: A man walks along the raised banks of the flooded River Parrett, near Muchelny - which has been cut off by road since January 1

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said they had "never made any money" from the 0845 number adding the full switch to 0345 9881188 will take place as soon as possible.
Telecommunications watchdog Ofcom encouraged all public bodies to use 03 numbers, which are charged at the same rate as calls to 01 or 02 'geographical' numbers and must be included within 'free call' bundles in phone packages. 
Calls to 03 numbers cost between 0p-10p per minute from landlines and 10p-40p from mobiles, though most mobile users will pay at the lower end of this range.

Mission: An emergency services boat comes along one of the flooded roads from Muchelney to pick up a resident and take them to the village

Submerged: Thousands of acres have been under water for weeks, some villages have been cut off for more than a month

Environment Agency chairman Lord Smith said he had not visited the Somerset Levels since they were submerged and admitted 'we probably have not done as much as we should have done' to dredge the area's rivers.
He told Sky News: 'I haven't yet been, in the last four weeks, to the Somerset Levels but I have been to the Somerset Levels on three occasions in the course of the last year and will be going back there.'
He acknowledged that dredging of the Tone and Parrett rivers would have to be 'an element' of plans to manage the flood risk in future.

Transport: For many people, boats are the only way to get around the flooded areas

Access: People use the humanitarian support boats to get to and from the cut off village of Muchenley

Precautions: Police constables David Williams and Lindsey Pendleton of Avon and Somerset police perform a mounted patrol to deter thievess who have been taking advantage of flooding in Langport, Somerset.