IF you believe the start of 2024 has been miserable weather wise, spare a thought for what people were suffering back in January 2014.

The County Gazette reported how floods in Somerset causing “heartache and destruction” were the result of key rivers not being dredged, it was claimed.

Hundreds of people remained stranded in Muchelney, near Langport, which had been surrounded by water since New Year’s Eve.

The only mode of transport in and out was by boat, with villagers saying water was an astonishing 11ft high at its deepest point.

Volunteers from the Burnham Area Rescue Boat had been taking in supplies.

Self-employed carpenter Ian Birrell, who lived in a flooded home on the Huish Episcopi to Muchelney Road, said: “It’s the price you pay for living on the Somerset Levels but something should be done to stop it.

“We need more dredging to protect people around here; they won’t let Taunton flood because it’s too built up.”

Neighbour David Gooby, 62, said: “I’ve been here for eight years and nobody has known it like this before.”

Derek Yeomans, Somerset County Councillor for the Curry Rivel and Langport division, which includes Muchelney, said: “Quite frankly, this flooding is the basic result of no dredging having taken place.

“The Environment Agency wanted £1.7million to dredge one bank for four miles and £4million to dredge two banks for four miles and as a result there was not enough money to do any work at all.

“They thought this flooding was going to be a one-in-a-hundred year’s event which has proved to be wrong.”

Cllr Yeomans said £300million ring-fenced by the Government to help tackle flooding was “a drop in the ocean” and that if nothing was done, Somerset could not remain a farming county.

He added: “The rivers need to be dredged and returned to their river profile of 20 years ago, the Brue, Tone, Parrett and Yeo.

“At the moment they are running at 60 per cent volume of what they should contain which means that the other 40 per cent is going over the top and causing huge heartache and destruction.”

South-West MEP Graham Watson, who lived in Langport, said: “We were told last year that the floods around Muchelney in particular were a once-in-a-hundred-year event.

"Yet, 12 months later, we have even worse flooding.

“It’s time this ended once and for all. We must return to annual dredging of the rivers and banks for the sake of people’s livelihoods and safety.”

Somerset County Council announced a £250,000 fund for flood victims, and a further £300,000 towards dredging key rivers including the Parrett.

The Environment Agency stopped the annual dredging of the Rivers Parrett and Tone 18 years before but since then water has nowhere to go, leading to regular flooding.

Spokesman Paul Gainey said: “The tidal nature of the River Parrett and Tone on Somerset Levels means they rapidly silt up and de-silting would only have a limited effect in reducing flood risk in such an event as this.

“Work commenced in November on the desilting of identified ‘pinch points’ starting on the River Tone and working towards the River Parrett to maintain river flow through small scale works.

“This is an interim step seeking to maximise the capacity of the existing system whilst longer term approaches are considered.”