The Government looks as if it is being generous in announcing £23 million to help councils repair roads damaged by floods.

But it hasn't given the money to hard-pressed counties such as East Sussex. It has merely indicated they have permission to borrow it.

East Sussex and West Sussex each get £1.6 million while Brighton and Hove gets only £341,000.

Anyone travelling on Sussex roads this year will have seen the havoc caused by the wettest winter on record.

East Sussex was the soggiest place in Britain during that period, with more than 50in of rain falling - double the total for an average year.

The floods were one of the worst disasters to hit Sussex in recent years, certainly since the great gale of 1987.

In East Sussex alone, the road repair bill caused by flooding is estimated to be £5.5 million, more than three times the amount the Government is giving the council permission to borrow.

A recent report to Brighton and Hove indicated some roadworks will have to last 25 years instead of five.

For all its fine words, the Government does not seem to have realised what an impact the floods had in this part of the world.

Perhaps it's time to invite a couple of ministers to the area and show them the need for big grants, not small loans, to tackle an urgent problem.