Minister promises to spend £250m to top up England’s flood defences

Labour pledges to protect 66,500 more properties, criticising previous Tory efforts

Ministers are topping up flood defence investment in England to a record" 2.65bn, after accusing the previous government of putting lives at risk" by under-spending.

An extra 250m is being pledged on top of the 2.4bn previously announced, to shore up defences and protect an extra 66,500 properties from flooding over a two-year period, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.