The Government will pick up the bill for emergency measures at the height of the flooding crisis, a minister has pledged.

Countryside minister Elliot Morley visited Uckfield yesterday, six weeks after 5ft of flood water cut the town in two.

Mr Morley's visit coincided with another night of heavy rain and gale-force winds which put areas of East Sussex back on flood alert.

Traders in Market Hall and Bell Walk shopping centres and the High Street told him how their businesses were still plagued by damage and insurance problems.

He promised the Government would compensate Wealden Council for the estimated £100,000 it spent on protecting the community as the waters rose.

He said he had also spoken to the Association of British Insurers and added that planning guidelines due to come into force next month would restrict housebuilding in flood plains and could force developers to pay for flood defence work.

Mr Morley said: "The Prime Minister is very anxious to assure people affected by the floods they have not been forgotten.

"We can't say there will never, ever be any more flooding, but we can try to reduce the risk of flood damage and destruction for local traders.

"I am full of admiration for the way traders have bounced back and there are lessons for other areas to learn from how they have done that."

Peter Midgley, Sussex area manager for the Environment Agency, said the River Uck flowed through a narrow channel when it passed through the town and could rise very quickly.

Proposed solutions include building barrages upstream, improving the channel through the town and raising flood walls.

The costs of flood defence work in the area could rise to £2 million and might be funded from £51 million earmarked by the Government for such schemes nationwide.

A meeting between councils, traders, emergency services and the Environment Agency will take place at Uckfield Civic Centre on November 29 at 7.30pm.