RESIDENTS in low-lying areas of Banbury are being visited by Environment Agency officers this week to discuss flooding issues.

The move comes after a £12m flood protection scheme to protect the town was cancelled earlier this year because of a lack of funding.

Recent heavy rain has put the agency on high alert, and its flood risk management team is calling at over 150 homes and businesses to warn them of the risks and give advice on reducing the impacts of flooding.

The River Cherwell flooded parts of Banbury in the storms of April 1998 when over 200 homes and businesses, including the railway station, were affected.

Since then, the agency has been working on a scheme to protect the town from further flooding.

The agency built Moorfield Brook pumping station, which prevents more than 300 homes in Grimsbury from flooding, but the main part of the scheme - a series of barriers and holding basins north of Banbury - has been abandoned.

Nationally all flood-defence schemes have to compete for Government funding using a scoring system.

When ranked against other schemes, the Banbury project did not score highly enough to qualify for funding next year and the situation is unlikely to change for the next three years.

Kate Vincent, the agency's flood incident management team leader, said: "We want to explain to residents in Banbury why the scheme has been delayed and to encourage people to sign up to our free flood-warning service.

"The Cherwell could flood again and it is important that people know what to do if it does. We will be offering advice to the public on what they can do to limit the damage that flooding can cause. Since the April 1998 floods, over 300 properties have registered for our flood-warning service, but there are still homes and businesses that have not."

People who register for the service will receive flood-warning messages by a method of their choice, including landline, fax, mobile phone, text, email, or pager.

After flood warnings have been issued, the agency advises people to call Floodline, on 0845 988 1188, select option 1 and then enter a quickdial number to hear what is happening in their area. The quickdial number for the Banbury area is 0112311.

The agency constantly monitors rainfall and river levels and rates of flow throughout England and Wales, and aims to give two hours notice before floods hit.