Croydon Council is to spend £841,000 on defences in a bid to prevent a repeat of floods that crippled parts of the borough last winter - but Government cash to fund long-term solutions will take four years to materialise.

Piping repairs, the creation of potential dams and landscaping form part of council's prevention strategy, drawn up in the wake of record rainfall that caused the Caterham Bourne river to overflow in February.

The Environment Agency declared the flooding a "major incident" as firefighters pumped 5,000 litres of water a minute from stricken Godstone Road water treatment works works in Kenley, while families and care home residents were evacuated in Purley.

Croydon has since held talks with Surrey County Council about long-term measures to prevent a repeat of the crisis and the two authorities have bid jointly for £1m Environment Agency funding to investigate potential work and carry it out.

But the funding will not be available until the 2016/17 financial year, if the bid is successful, leaving Croydon Council to spend thousands on short-term measures.

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Godstone Road was closed for weeks during the fight to save the sewage works

Kathy Bee, cabinet member for transport and environment, stressed the flood of such scale were a "once-in-a-hundred-years event" but added the borough was already better prepared.

She said: "Certainly we have got better measures in place in terms of managing it when it rains and we have also got spare pumps and sandbags ready as well.

"We recognise that the indicators are that there will be more extreme events. I would hope that we won't get a repeat of last year so quickly, but all the same we have to be prepared."

The creation of a potential damn in Bourne Park and a £250,000 upgrade to the Purley Oaks depot balancing pond are among the proposed measures that will go before the cabinet on Monday, while an agreement has also been reached to use Sutton and East Surrey Water pipes to carry water away from Dale Road, one of the worst affected streets, if necessary.

Marilyn Poulton, owner of Westbourne Florists, one of several business isolated by the closure of Godstone Road earlier this year, said she felt secure there would not be a repeat.

Her shop is one of 32 properties to have applied for £5,000 Government grants for flood defences.

She said: "The blueprint is there now so if it did happen again it would be rectified quickly, I'm sure.

"It was a nightmare but we have survived."

Do you feel safe from flooding this year? Post a comment below or email letters@croydonguardian.co.uk