Anger over Kent flooding plans

The land may be flooded to help protect local towns

Landowners are angry a stretch of Kent coastline is being allowed to flood to save neighbouring communities.

The Environment Agency says allowing a four-mile stretch of land between Reculver and Thanet to flood with seawater will protect local towns.

Experts say it could protect local communities for the next 100 years.

But local landowners have reacted with anger, saying they have not been properly consulted, and the land is too valuable for agriculture.

In 1953, large areas of land between Reculver and Thanet were reclaimed by the sea in the storm surge.

Salt marsh

Now local authorities want to move sea defences further away from the sea.

"How it works is further back we'd have to set up secondary defences, they wouldn't be so substantial... small gaps are then cut into the defences so that the whole defences aren't just knocked away," said Ted Edwards of Canterbury City Council.

"That lets the water in at high tide. You'll gradually get a formation of salt marsh which in itself is a good defence."

The current sea walls are not expected to be able to cope with the rising sea levels expected in 50 years time.

Local farmer Tony Redsell said: "It's not a hare-brained idea if it's being used as a sponge to soak up the rising sea level, but where I think it's a daft idea is this country is going to be short of food.

"The thought of destroying as far as I'm concerned 200 acres of prime farmland with the price of wheat having doubled in 12 months, people are going to go hungry."

The Environment Agency's Andrew Pearce said the advantage of setting the sea wall back meant they would spend less money keeping the defences.