AN intensive drain cleaning programme has been carried out on Canvey following the recent floods.

Essex County Council officials ensured drains were clear of rubbish to allow them to cope with the heavy rain this week.

The council also said it had been working closely with Anglian Water, the Environment Agency and Castle Point Council.

Ray Howard, Essex county and borough councillor for Canvey West, said large Environment Agency pumps, which carry the water to dykes and the estuary, had been working during the floods, but the problem was getting the water away from the roads.

He said: "When you've got three-and-a-half inches of rainfall, like we had last week, the pipes are not big enough to take that volume of water, so that's something we've got to look at for the future.

"We mean to do the best we can to make sure the flooding problems do not happen again."

The council says it is determined to be better prepared for bad weather. When the Met Office issued a severe weather warning on Monday night a highways team was on standby for road incidents.

Specialist engineers were also on call.

Pam Challis, leader of Castle Point Council, said: "We will be putting our weight behind these people to make sure they do what they should be doing."

Last week's flooding was caused by the heaviest rainfall since 1969, with more rain in two days than the average for May as a whole.