Plant bank will give flood victims summer cheer

Flood victims in one area who lost plants to last years high waters can take heart in an innovative donation scheme.

Residents of Driffield in east Yorkshire whose gardens ended up submerged can pick up plants and shrubs from a plant bank.

The Driffield Post reports organisers of the scheme hope to help out people who may have got insurance payouts for wrecked houses but not for plants lost from gardens.

The paper quotes bank inventor Angela Train as saying: "So far we have about 500 plants on my lawn and about a thousand in someone elses greenhouse but we are still looking for donations."

Flood victims will be able to pick up the plants for their gardens and greenhouses at a collection event next month.

The Environment Agency estimates about five million people living in two million homes live in flood risk areas in England and Wales.

Agency figures say last summer was the wettest May to July since records began in 1766, causing severe flooding in parts of the UK.