Environment Agency chair heads to flood-hit areas after Barbados break

Sir Philip Dilley is under fire for holidaying in Caribbean while thousands of Britons are dealing with floods

Fresh from his holiday in Barbados, the chairman of the Environment Agency had little time to gather his things this morning before heading to meet flood victims in England's sodden north.

Sir Philip Dilley spent less than an hour with an aide collecting a few personal items from his flat in an Edwardian mansion block in Marylebone, London, amid fury that he had been sunning himself while thousands of Britons fought floods.