A ONE-OFF grant has been awarded to help residents of Earnley protect against flooding.
The £15,000 grant from Chichester District Council will help to prevent similar flooding to that of June this year.
Residents have already managed to raise more than £250,000 towards the cost of the scheme, which includes the residents’ own funding, as well as money from West Sussex County Council and Earnley Parish Council.
Cllr Clementson, chairman of Chichester District Council, said: “The people of Earnley have a lot of unsung heroes. The flooding was very unusual and unexpected, and now work can be done to try to prevent further damage.”
Residents of Booker Lane, Earnley suffered from particularly bad flood damage during the summer.
The residents have been working with the Environment Agency to solve the problem.
Chris Bayley, who used to be chairman of Earnley Parish Council, said: “It has been a real community effort. The driving force has been the Booker Lane residents group. Many homes were badly affected in June. The Environment Agency have also really helped.”
A local farmer has donated land to enable the works, and has offered to clear the area, which has reduced the cost of the work by thousands of pounds.