MORE help to alleviate flooding could be on the way to Worcester - with ministers calling it "a special case".

A key MP working under Environment Secretary Liz Truss has pledged to stage sit-down talks with Robin Walker and the Environment Agency to see what can be done to offer more help.

The talks are expected to focus largely on the city's Barbourne brook culvert, which only last year was awarded £475,000 towards repair work.

It runs the entire length of Perdiswell Park golf course and back in January a six-week project took place to restore sections it, but since then more deterioration has been found.

Mr Walker used the example to push for more flooding alleviation investment during a House of Commons debate and was given a positive response by MP Rory Stewart, who works in DEFRA (the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) underneath Ms Truss.

Mr Walker said: "I was pleased to welcome the Government’s investment in repair work for the Barbourne brook culvert in last year.

"But investigations have since found significant deterioration in that culvert and there might be a need for some extra support.

"Will the minister convene a meeting with the Environment Agency and Worcester City Council to discuss the issue?"

Mr Stewart replied:"I shall be delighted to do so - Worcester is a special case, as it is on the Severn like Gloucester.

"Much of the flooding there has affected road assets.

"That culvert is central and I'm happy to sit down with (Mr Walker) and the Environment Agency in order to address the challenges of that."

The stance comes after Worcestershire County Council revealed this week how 20,000 properties are still 'at risk' of floods around Worcestershire and 1,700 flood zones.

Worcester-based flooding expert Mary Dhonau, chief executive of the 'Know Your Flood Risk' group, also says it is "frightening" how so many householders lack knowledge about the risks they face.

"One thing I always emphasise is, flood defences might reduce the risk of it happening, but they won't take it away completely," she said.

"People still don't realise how horrific flooding is, the awfulness of it is something I think so many people still don't grasp."

The great floods of 2007 saw 4,500 properties across the county damaged and after that £12.5 million was pumped into new defences, including Worcester's Hylton Road bund.

The last serious event was February 2014 when 163 properties were affected and the main city bridge had to close, with a temporary shuttle bus being used to ferry people across it.