25 July 2012 Last updated at 07:40 ET

Par, St Blazey and Mevagissey get £1.8m flood prevention

Rescue crews in Mevagissey where hundreds of homes were flooded in 2010

South West Water (SWW) is diverting money from Devon to Cornwall for flood prevention work.

The £1.8m earmarked for Fleet Walk in Torbay is being spent on improvements in Par, St Blazey and Mevagissey.

The switch, backed by water regulator Ofwat, will ease flooding in the area where hundreds of homes were flooded in November 2010.

SWW said Fleet Walk had not flooded in several years and investigations by Torbay Council were continuing.

'Minimise risk'

SWW said the work, mainly on improving culverts and drainage in the Cornish towns, would "minimise the risk of flooding in the future".

In November 2010, homes, businesses, gardens, garages, vehicles and roads were flooded after extremely heavy rainfall overwhelmed drainage systems and streams.

The A38 was blocked, main roads in the flood-affected areas were closed and trains were disrupted after a landslide on the mainline.

The communities were affected by further floods in October and November 2011.

SWW said Torbay Council, as lead flood authority, was investigating what needed to be done by all partners, including SWW and the Environment Agency to prevent flooding at Fleet Walk.

"Until all the investigations are complete we won't be in a position to understand why the area can be prone to flooding, and what can be done to prevent it, but it hasn't flooded in several years.

"It seems unlikely that the scheme will be ready to go ahead in this five-year investment programme (2010-2015) but if it is we will honour our commitment to it."

'Further investigations'

A council spokeswoman said a flood prevention scheme was first discussed in 2007 and one of the results was a £6m proposal.

She said: "Due to the complexity of the flooding issues in Torquay town centre funding for such a scheme would require partnership funding from SWW, Environment Agency and Torbay Council.

"In the last budget setting process with Ofwat, SWW secured part funding for a flood alleviation scheme in Torquay based on the original pilot study option.

"However, funding has not yet been secured from the Environment Agency or Torbay Council as further investigations are required."