THE Environment Agency has given the thumbs down to the proposed industrial estate on the edge of Williton due to the risk of flooding- but it is not against 200 new homes.

It was revealed at an agency meeting that part of the link road between Pondhead Cross and Raglan's Cross would have to be raised on stilts to avoid the floodplain.

This could send the cost of the development spiralling out of control if the method of construction is adopted and planning permission eventually granted.

The industrial estate is planned to be sited on the lower flat section of the land and will occupy space alongside some of the houses.

However, the crux of the argument coming from opponents of the scheme was highlighted recently when freak storms caused widespread flooding in Williton and the earmarked land was saturated for weeks.

Nearby residents are fearful that rainwater will have nowhere to run off from the mass of concrete - except into homes in Catwell and Townsend.

Agency chiefs said engineering work was needed to solve the problem of standing water to ensure that it does not meet the floodplain at the same time as the stream floods.

The Williton site, popular with dog walkers, was chosen after plans for housing on Dunster Marsh were axed at the last minute when West Somerset District Council made alterations to the Local Plan which will be heard at a public inquiry in March.

Support for the action group opposed to the controversial development is growing fast with 100 individuals already registered to object at the inquiry.

And the campaigners have written to all the district councillors and prospective parliamentary candidates Ian Liddell-Grainger, Ian Thorn and Bill Montieth inviting them to meet and view the hotly-debated site.

Action group secretary Ken Cordingly said: "We were told that the roundabout at the junction of the proposed link road and the A39, together with about the first 100 yards of the road, will have to be raised on stilts.

"The cost of this would be enormous and it would run into other planning regulations. We are convinced that the council will be forced to reconsider its 11th-hour complete reversal of its housing policy and we will be writing to them to stress this."

The Environment Agency recently added maps to its website when it emerged that 50 per cent of people living in flood risk areas were unaware of the potential danger to their property.

Countryside Minister Elliot Morley MP said: "We can't prevent all floods, but we can prepare people so that they can take steps to protect themselves. People need to know if they are at risk - indeed, they need to have the right to know.

"The Government and the Environment Agency have worked hard over the past two years to bring home to people the very real risk of flooding.

"In the extreme floods of recent months, the agency's new warning system worked well and the flooding helpline supported hundreds of thousands of people at risk with information and advice at the critical time."