Full marks to the Army for turning out and helping the beleagured villagers of Nuneham Courtenay.

But should we really be relying on our hard-pressed military to sort out flooding problems?

The truth is that not enough is being done to reduce the risk of flooding.

The Environment Agency admits that it does not have enough Government money to do all that it would wish.

Because of limited resources, it has to confine its anti-flood measures to the areas that are highly vulnerable, mainly those alongside our main rivers.

Hard luck on rural communities like Nuneham Courtenay, which has been hit twice in 10 days.

It appears that little if anything has been done to dredge and clear water courses, which could have taken the excess water away.

We are now paying the penalty for years of inactivity.

If the experts are right on climate change, we can expect flooding to be more widespread and to occur more frequently in future.

As a matter of urgency, we should identify flooding hotspots like Nuneham Courtenay and make sure enough money is available to do the necessary relief work.

The Government must take the lead.