WATER water everywhere, time to stop and think?

First my heartfelt sympathy to the families involved in the terrible consequences of the recent floods in Cumbria, and all praise to the rapid response of the emergency services.

We have heard enough of all the arguments regarding global warming and climate change. The fact is flooding, loss of life, loss of livelihood and possessions, and the enormous cost of returning the area concerned to some sort of normality is prohibitive.

Can this flooding be prevented? I believe it can. Harness the forces of nature to power hydro-electrical power stations, damming the rivers to control their flow and providing clean, green, electricity at the same time.

Also we are an island surrounded by water, with rising tides forecast. Shouldn’t we be building more tidal barriers for hydro-electricity?

We have the technology and the civil engineers to make this work, and we need look no further than Holland to see how successful that country has been in solving these problems.

Action is needed now.

Mr M Booth Laxford Grove Bolton