A DECISION to increase spending in order to beat future flooding like the devastating deluge of last year was deferred for two weeks yesterday.

Local authorities in Yorkshire - the worst-hit area - will use the time to press the Government for central funding to cover the emergency.

Members of the Regional Flood Defence Committee voted unanimously to delay their decision on any increase in the Environment Agency's flood levy.

The agency wants an extra 63 per cent on its existing levy of £17.2m - raising the figure provided from local authorities and internal drainage boards to £27.9m.

Some £2.8m of that increase would pay for emergency repairs to existing defences, while nearly £8m would allow the future programme to be accelerated and extended.

But the councils are insisting that the Government should play its part in paying for last year's disaster now, rather than by reimbursing the authorities in a year's time.

The agency's regional water manager David Rooke said: "The two-week deferment gives us a further opportunity to work with local government and central government to find the funding needed.

"While it prolongs uncertainty, it does mean we are not struggling with a budget so low that we cannot provide a full flood defence service."

He added: "All our efforts will now go into getting the levy increase we need to minimise the risk of flooding for the people of Yorkshire."