FLOOD victims have the chance tomorrow to get answers on the Boxing Day disaster that hit thousands of people across the borough.

Officials from the Environment Agency and Bury Council have organised a community drop-in session and public meeting to be held at Radcliffe Civic Suite for anyone affected by the floods.

During the drop-in session, from 3-6.30pm, representatives of Six Town Housing, Irwell Valley Housing, and the emergency services will also be on hand to provide one-to-one advice and information.

Then, from 7-9pm, the council’s chief executive Mike Owen and council leader Cllr Mike Connolly will talk and invite questions about the emergency response on Boxing Day, the recovery work done since then and ways in which residents can help to protect their properties to minimise the risk of future flooding.

Cllr Connolly told last week's full meeting of Bury Council: "I would just like to take the chance to say, yet again, a huge thanks to everyone involved in the rescue and recovery effort. The community spirit that was shown across the borough was humbling and shows what an incredible place we live in.

"As I promised right from the outset, a drop-in session and public meeting has been arranged for February 11 at Radcliffe Civic Hall which will include representatives from the Environment Agency, Bury Council and other partners."

He added that even if a £9m flood defence scheme that had been planned for the region was in place, the scale of the rainfall on Christmas Day meant there would have still been severe flooding.

Cllr Connolly said: "I can also assure residents that since 2013 the Council has been working with the Environment Agency and encouraging them to investigate the viability of several options to reduce the risk of flooding to residents and businesses in Radcliffe.

"In December 2015, a matter of days before the floods, the Agency provided us with details of a £9m scheme and indicated that this had been given an indicative allocation in their 6 year Capital Programme. However they also made it clear that for the scheme to go ahead they would need a multi-million pound contribution from the Council.

"Sadly the floods that actually happened showed that even had this scheme been in place the unprecedented amount of rain that fell on Christmas night, and the impact on river levels, was such that there would still have been severe flooding and I can assure people that we are now working with the Agency to urgently re-design the scheme and develop a robust funding package."