COUNCILLORS are gathering videos, pictures and eyewitness accounts of the devastating Canvey floods after concerns Government scientists will be “hoodwinked”.

Castle Point Council is pulling together a dossier of evidence from people affected to hand over to Whitehall.

The Echo is also submitting pictures and information.

More than 50 residents went to a flooding scrutiny committee to put forward their names to give evidence.

A series of meetings will be held by the council to get more people involved.

Chairman Dave Blackwell said: “We do not want the agencies to hoodwink the Government that this was a one-in-300-year event, that is why it is so important we collect the information.

“There is no communication between any of them and I am getting fed up hearing so many excuses.

“We demand, and the people out there demand, they get answers.

“The one thing I amafraid of is them telling us it was a one-in-300 -year event and last August was one in 200.

“We don’t need to know that, we want to know what they are going to do if it happens again.”

Chief executive David Marchant spoke of the unique draining challenges facing Canvey and how Essex County Council, Anglian Water and the Environment Agency were responsible for different parts of the overall system.

A video taken by the police helicopter, showing the extent of the flooding, was watched and councillors said residents had put their hands into raw sewage to unblock drains to stop roads flooding.

Council leader Colin Riley called for residents to submit their evidence to help the council.

He said: “I am not going to let it go.

“We can’t leave this any longer, we just can’t hear it was a one-in- 300-year rainfall. Something has to happen, they have to put in provision.”

He added residents coming forward to say their homes had been affected by flooding would also be advised about the council tax rebate scheme.

Residents are asked to email information if their homes had been flooded to tbragg@castlepoint.

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