Flood risk pumpimprovement

The pump, based in a station at Marley Road, plays a key role in protecting the Tilling Green estate should water rise in the River Tillingham.

The news has been welcomed by Colonel Anthony Kimber, chairman of Rye emergency group REACT, who has been pushing for it to be improved for some time.

He said: “I can confirm that after several years of campaigning by REACT and others, Southern Water has finally renovated the pump.

“For a long time it relied on a bypass submersible pump, but the main mechanism has been heard working which is a reassurance to local occupants.

One citizen who lives nearby said “repair work has been a long time coming, but we are grateful for all the efforts to get it fixed”.

“This is good news. REACT seeks to keep track of the maintenance of all the key parts of the flood defence infrastructure around Rye and can now turn its attention to issues in other areas of Rye.

More than 40,000 households in Rother are at risk of flooding, with 2,800 of those considered to be at high or medium risk, according to new figures.

The proportion of homes at ‘high’ or ‘medium’ risk of flooding stands at 6.8 percent - double the England average of 3.4 percent.

Meanwhile the number of households at high risk in Rother stands at 1,060.

The figures were released by the Environment Agency recently following a Freedom of Information Request.