MILLIONS of pounds were set aside yesterday for a flood defence scheme to protect hundreds of home in two flood-hit communities.

Rising costs for new defences along the River Gaunless, near Bishop Auckland, have meant delays for families in South Church and West Auckland, where hundreds of homes were flooded following storms over two years ago.

Poor ground conditions which require extra reinforcement work have pushed up costs from £4.5m to £7.8m and delayed the scheme by several months. But the Northumbria Regional Flood Defence Committee has put residents' minds at ease by agreeing to spend the extra money on the project.

Now that the committee has approved the scheme it falls to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs (Defra) to give the final go-ahead.

The extra funding will be collected through an increase in council tax to bring in £7.5m. The remainder should be made up mainly of grants from Defra.

Committee chairman Jo Turnbull said: "I'm pleased that members of my committee have identified the need to continue the excellent work already done to help protect people, their homes and businesses from the flooding."

South Church resident David Elliott, a member of the flood action committee, said people in the area would be relieved that the work was being given the go ahead.

He said: "It is a huge relief to know the committee realises how important it is that the work is done to protect our homes.

"We are all at risk here. There have been several near- misses since the flood of June 2000 and it could happen again at any time.

"Our homes are insured on the basis that these flood defences will be built and the delays were very worrying. Now we just want the measures to be built as soon as possible."

Work was originally delayed because of access restrictions imposed during the foot-and mouth outbreak.

Work should have started in early October - though the committee still aims to complete the work as quickly as possible