FLOODING risks, affordable housing, travel concessions and well-paid jobs were just some of the items up for discussion when Sedgemoor District Council chiefs met a Government Minister this week.

Senior councillors and officers spoke to Minister for the South West Ben Bradshaw, outlining aspirations for the future and areas where Government assistance was being sought.

A second meeting also took place where the council's portfolio holder for economic development, Anne Fraser, spoke in-depth about plans for a sluice on the River Parrett and the opportunities such a development would bring.

Sedgemoor leader Duncan McGinty said: "It was very good to welcome Ben Bradshaw to Somerset and to speak to the Minister about problems that affect real people in not only Sedgemoor but the whole of Somerset.

"The Minister was genuinely interested in hearing of our successes and also of the problems that we face now and in the future.

"We also pointed out that low financial settlements from the Government are causing councils over the region to cut services that people really value."