ANGRY flood victims rounded on environment officials at a meeting to discuss the catastrophic floods.

Residents of South Church, near Bishop Auckland, made it clear they were not happy with the answers they were getting during a forum organised by the Environment Agency.

The meeting was intended to be an opportunity for agency representatives to answer questions and consult with the public. But tempers ran high in the packed Territorial Army Centre in Bishop Auckland, as people demanded to know whether the flooding was connected to rec-ent work on the River Gaunless.

Flood defence and water resources manager Peter Kerr explained how, on June 4, already water-logged land suffered the equivalent of one month's worth of rain in a day, causing the river to burst its banks.

He said the agency's priority was to install flood defence systems and they planned to consult local people on a number of options, including building flood banks in West Auckland and South Church, and installing flood walls where the river runs close to homes.

The agency is also to look at building gauging stations which would monitor water levels and putting in flood warning systems.

But people demanded to know if the flooding was connected to alterations to straighten the river near Henknowle.

However, Mr Kerr said: "The work was done by an organisation putting in the by-pass road.

"The channel itself will not have made matters worse. The flooding was caused by the amount of rainfall."