A supermarket group's giant compensation claim continues to hold up plans for a flood wall in a town devastated by flooding six years ago.

Campaigners are furious that Somerfield's case has meant Uckfield cannot have any flood defences built before this autumn, when heavy rains could follow a hot summer.

Wealden district councillor Claire Dowling, chairman of the Uck Valley Flood Forum, said: "We are in the hands of people who don't live in Uckfield. People looking at it from a money point of view and whose motivation is not what is best for the people of Uckfield."

She said flash flooding or summer storms could cause a disaster.

Plans to build a £600,000 wall around Somerfield car park in River Way, Uckfield, were revealed by the Environment Agency in October.

Work was due to begin in January but was postponed when the supermarket group made a compensation claim for more than the entire cost of the wall.

A spokeswoman said the amount was to compensate for revenue lost during and after the 12-week construction of the metre-high wall, as some existing parking spaces couldn't be used.

The agency said it could not afford to pay a claim of that value, prompting concerns the project would be scrapped.

Somerfield and the Environment Agency have been in negotiations for the past seven months but still no agreement has been reached.

Andy Gilham, Environment Agency flood manager for Sussex, said: "We sent our latest suggestions to Somerfield and are awaiting their response."

A Somerfield spokeswoman said it wanted to reach a solution which would be acceptable for all parties but could not give a timescale for an agreement.

Wealden MP Charles Hendry said: "I hope Somerfield will recognise how important people in Uckfield feel it is for something to be done for flood defences."

Hundreds of homes and businesses in Uckfield were devastated by floodwater when the River Uck burst its banks following heavy rainfall in October 2000.

Environment Minister Elliot Morley visited the town and told the public he would do all he could to help them.

Residents became more and more frustrated over the next five years as no progress was made. Anger peaked in 2004, when the agency revealed it had spent £160,000 building a scale-model of the town, which has suffered a series of floods in the past century. Critics said the funds could have been