Vast areas of Britain are still under floodwater today while others are battening down the hatches for more rain as the Government and the Environment Agency were criticised for failing to protect people in the worst-hit areas.

Hundreds of people spent last night in emergency shelters and temporary accommodation in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire after their homes were flooded. This morning, Oxfordshire is preparing for more localised flooding by closing roads and issuing residents with sandbags to protect their homes.

In Gloucestershire, the towns of Tewkesbury and Evesham were particularly badly hit. The former was cut off after floodwater swamped the main road into town and 30 people are currently trapped in a hotel in Evesham.

Also, Sutton and East Surrey Water today warned 80,000 households and businesses within its Sutton supply area to boil tap water before drinking it after the firm discovered rain had leaked into a tank of water which had gone out to customers.

Police have advised anyone who ventures through Hereford and Worcestershire today to pack plenty of supplies and warm clothing as more rain is predicted.

Gordon Brown has promised local authorities would be given 100 per cent compensation by central government for the costs of dealing with the rainfall.

But opposition parties have criticised the Government’s cutting of resources for floods defences and one Conservative MP called the response an “outrage” and “lackadaisical”.

David Cameron, today visiting Whitney, the main town in his Oxfordshire constituency, said that serious questions needed to be asked about Britain’s flood defence systems, which he said were sorely lacking at the moment.

He said “We have to ask why the flood defence budget was cut last year.”

Mr Cameron also said he would like to know why flood defence resources have so often been many miles away from where they are needed during recent days. “People want answers,” he added.

The Environment Agency was criticised by the Conservative MP John Redwood, whose Wokingham constituency in Berkshire was badly affected by the downpour. He said that the agency had not put in place sufficient measures to prevent flooding.

In particular, one town in Worcestershire was left without barriers when vehicles became trapped by the floods and were unable to deliver them. “It would have been nice to have tried to put barriers in place,” said Mr Redwood.

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