ENVIRONMENT Agency officials and a government minister are to be pressed to speed-up new flood defences for a suburb devastated by the Boxing Day floods four years ago.

Households in Prestolee and nearby Stoneclough were left underwater after torrential rainfall caused the River Irwell to burst its banks on December 26 2015.

They were promised urgent action to top a repeat of their homes being inundated with water by any repeat of the torrential rainfall.

In October the area was again out on flood alert but avoided any damage.

Bolton South-East MP Yasmin Qureshi met with residents of Riverside Drive in Prestolee - the worst affected area with cars and homes submerged - before the December 12 election.

Now she will meet with the EA's Area Flood and Coastal Risk Manager early next month to discuss the delay.

Then she will seek a meeting with junior environment minister Rebecca Pow MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, responsible for flood prevention, to press for the required investment to be allocated for the scheme as as soon as possible.

Currently building a proposed flood wall for Prestolee is not scheduled to start until Spring 2021 despite preparatory work having been completed,

Construction has already started on flood defences elsewhere in Greater Manchester,.

Ms Qureshi said: "Since the catastrophic floods of 2015, the residents of Riverside Drive and Prestolee have been worried sick about it happening again.

"Despite the best efforts of the EA, they have not yet been able to install flood defences. I intend to put pressure on the Government to provide the required funding to get the works done as a matter of urgency."