GOVERNMENT ministers and flood experts have been invited to see first-hand the devastating effect flooding has had on Somerset.

Somerset County Council has invited ministers from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and members of the all-party Parliamentary group on flooding to visit marooned Muchelney, the currently closed A361 and the levels.

It is part of the campaign 'Fairer Funding for Somerset', calling for significant flood prevention investment in the county.

Council leader John Osman said: "We really want to show ministers just how bad it is in Somerset – and for a second year in a row.

"People want action, not words, and it is time the Government fronted up. We have provided a boat to help people in Muchelney, we have responded 24/7 as the flood waters rose, we have done everything in our power.

"But we still have people cut off, we still have major roads closed and we still have people stranded, worried and picking up the pieces of their life. The Government can, and must, put its hand in its pockets and step in.”

In pictures: Somerset floods, January 2014