COUNCILLORS are taking action to help prevent the widespread flooding that brought misery to thousands of people.

They want to find out if there is anything to be done of a practical nature to stop a repeat of last winter and spring's floods.

Wycombe district councillor John Savage (Con, Flackwell Heath) said residents had had a hard time and in Marlow there were still problems.

"If we can see a way of relieving the situation we should look at it," he said.

He was speaking on Monday at the first-ever meeting of the district council's environment, improvement and scrutiny committee.

The new committee, one of three new scrutiny committees, gives backbench councillors a chance to hold the cabinet to account, to quiz officers and to investigate issues they think are important.

The environment committee is chaired by High Wycombe mayor Nigel Vickery, the only-non Conservative to hold a chairmanship on the council.

Cllr Bruce Holland (Con, Bledlow-cum-Saunderton) said flood prevention was urgent: "The water level is still very high indeed and we are in July. Come September we may get heavy rains again."

The councillors know they cannot do anything about global warning but they want to look at practical things like ditching and dredging and building on land likely to flood.

The leader of the Lib Dem group on Buckinghamshire County Council, Pam Crawford, (Lib Dem, Chesham West) is calling for the county to employ a flood defence office.

She said Thames Water used to employ one, but the job vanished when water was privatised.