A TEESSIDE council is urging the Government to give immediate cash aid as it tries to cope with the bill for damage caused by flooding.

Redcar and Cleveland borough has been one of the worst hit areas in the North-East, and the bill this year is estimated at more than £850,000.

The main problems occurred in Skinningrove, Loftus and Carlin How, but there was flooding in all corners of the borough.

The flood damage bill for Saltburn Valley Gardens is £496,000, public rights of way, £164,500, and culverts and landfill sites, £132,000.

Councillor Dave McLuckie, lead councillor for community safety, said: "We have got to make the Government stand up and take notice of the problems we are facing.

"We could be in a situation where a street of five houses in the South of England, costing £1million each, will receive more help from the Government than the entire community of Skinningrove, with its 178 properties and over 300 people. That's appalling."

Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said there would be government help for local authorities who incur expenditure above 0.2 per cent of their normal budget for dealing with emergencies such as floods.

The Government will provide 100 per cent financial help above that level.

The council's director of technical services, Ralph Ferguson, is compiling a report on flood damage, to be discussed in the new year.

l Last night, Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, chaired a meeting of Skinningrove villagers ,who questioned representatives of Northumbrian Water over the company's role in combating flooding.

Water company officials explained what they were doing to try to avoid avoid repeat flooding