Prime Minister Tony Blair has been accused of breaking a promise to protect Sussex homes from flooding.

In a heated Westminster exchange, Tory MP Charles Hendry said Mr Blair had betrayed the people of Uckfield, which narrowly escaped flooding over Christmas and the new year.

Mr Hendry said the Prime Minister had met representatives from Wealden District Council two years ago after the devastating floods of autumn 2000.

Mr Blair had promised action to defend homes from further flooding but nothing had been done and residents only narrowly escaped a repeat of the floods over the festive period, when flood warnings were in place across the county.

During Prime Minister's questions, Mr Hendry said: "On January 22, 2001, he pledged to the leader of Wealden District Council and others he would take action to ensure the devastating floods of October 2000 would not happen again.

"He didn't promise to stop the rain but he did make a promise to the villages affected.

"Is he aware that while he was away over Christmas and New Year, Uckfield very nearly faced devastating flooding again and Buxted was flooded?

"Yet not only has no project to prevent flooding being proposed, nothing has remotely been suggested to happen at all.

"Does he understand why people in Wealden feel so betrayed that, for all his fine words and pledges, their houses are as at much risk today as they were two years ago?"

Mr Blair promised to look into the situation in Uckfield.

He said: "I have to say we have done our level best over the last two years to give us better flood defences on the whole.

"But not in every case has this produced a better situation.

"I did say we would significantly increase the amount of money going into flood defen-ces and we have."

The Prime Minister extended his deepest sympathies to Mr Hendry's constituents whose homes had been flooded but said investment in flood defence schemes had worked.

He said: "Without the extra investment over the past couple of years, somewhere in the region of 5,000 extra homes would have been flooded.

"We also have much better warning of floods."