INNOVATIVE flood defences in Cleveland have 'set the trend' for countless others across the country, a Government minister said this week.

But as Floods Minister Elliot Morley inspected the £300,000 defences at Skinningrove on Monday, villagers said they still were not satisfactory. Residents whose properties have been ruined by floods over the years said there were still three major areas of concern.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council stressed that consultation due to be completed in the coming months should resolve any future problems.

Mr Morley heard that the new defences, paid for with £145,000 Government funding and £155,000 from Redcar and Cleveland Council, would provide more than 180 flood-prone properties with protection. They were constructed following the floods in July and November 2000 that caused damage to 102 and 178 properties respectively.

Brick-clad concrete walls contain the beck, while a debris screen catches fallen trees travelling downstream. Steel floodgates, operated by villagers, work in conjunction with an early-warning system installed by the Environment Agency. The system was put into place this summer.

Mr Morley said: "Skinningrove has been a trend-setter for the country in having this fully-integrated system."

But Geoffrey Brundle, owner of one of the most at risk premises in Marine Terrace said there were still concerns in the village.

He said the beck had been narrowed and would run too deep in floods, the area used for fishermen to launch was in the wrong place, and the 470 tonnes of rock used by Northumbrian Water was also in the wrong place.

He said: "They have these experts but they don't bother asking the people here who have watched problems with flooding for up to 60 years."

Another villager, who declined to be named, said the rock had recently been donated by Northumbrian Water to the village for further defence work, but Redcar and Cleveland Council had not given residents permission to put it to good use.

A council spokesman said the authority was happy to accept the rock and added the council's consultants, Mouchel, were examining ways to improve the defences. He said Mouchel is due to announce areas of improvement in November.