FLOODS which devastated homes in West Auckland and South Church in June, have left Wear Valley District Council facing a bill for tens of thousands of pounds.

More than half the total estimated cost of £160,000, which includes the cost of sandbags, damage and council staff time, will have to be met by the district council.

No sooner had council officers finished assessing the cost of the June deluge, than the area was hit by flooding again at the beginning of this month.

The second inundation could cost the authority an extra £50,000.

Acting executive director, Eddie Scrivens said the authority tried to claim half the amount back from the Government, but received less than it had hoped for.

"With the latest floods, in terms of manpower and resources, there is further costs because we have to do preventative works and river defences. But it is nothing of the magnitude of what it cost us before," he said.

"We were very fortunate in that nothing like the same amount of properties were flooded.

"We also spent an absolute fortune on doing up council houses affected this summer, which we're still totalling up."

News of the repair bill comes days after Countryside Minister Elliot Morley announced that £2m would be allocated for flood defences across the country this financial year.