A GOVERNMENT representative will be visiting local communities affected by flooding this week.

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer, who is the Government's ministerial representative for flood recovery in Gloucestershire, will be visiting Deerhurst, where a flood defence scheme has recently been completed.

She will visit also Maisemore and Tirley, near Tewkesbury, where a project to reduce flood risks over the next two years is set to go ahead as part of a £758,000 county council investment scheme.

The Baroness, along with senior staff from the Department for Transport and the Department for Communities and Local Government, will meet representatives from Tewkesbury Borough Council and the Environment Agency.

Councillor Vernon Smith, cabinet member for highways and flooding, said: "We are pleased to welcome the Baroness to Gloucestershire and show her what’s been achieved in the last seven years.

"It’s also an important opportunity for us to make our case for extra funding for not just potholes and surface damage to roads, but also the major landslips caused by one of the wettest winters on record.”

Since 2007 the county council has spent over £48million on flood defences.