A total of £500,000 is being splashed out on improvements to a wastewater pumping station in Deal to ensure it can cope when storms hit the town.

But the news wasn’t enough to satisfy Deal Town Council members who want more answers about the root causes of flooding problems in the town.

The work on Golf Road Wastewater Pumping Station will be completed by July.

The news came in a letter from Southern Water to Deal Town Council to update the authority on what is being done to prevent repeat flooding episodes.

Homes in Albert Road suffered flooding after heavy rainfall in September 2015 and in January.

Southern Water confirmed in January that its pumps were “overloaded”, with water coming in as fast as it was going out, causing a back-up.

The company’s stakeholder engagement manager Sarah Feasey said in the letter: “The plan involves the replacement of the control systems on site, as well as the refurbishment of the station’s three storm pumps.”

It said that the station’s pumps are capable of pumping 280 litres per second and the site is linked to the company’s regional control centre which is managed 24 hours a day.

But Cllr Trevor Bond, who represents the Middle Deal ward, wasn’t satisfied.

He told Deal Town Council’s meetiong on Monday night: “The town clerk has seemed to receive a very wishy washy reply from Southern Water.

“I find quite frankly that there is a real issue here because they have not yet answered me as to what is causing the flooding and I think this is a very serious concern.

“When new houses are built in Deal, all they are doing is adding to the pipe network.”

He added: “All I want is to have these people stop being flooded.

“All I am interested in is them fixing their problems and they have to do that and to work out if the pipe network can take anymore development.”

They asked the town clerk, Lorna Crow, to respond and press for more details about what has caused the flooding.

Ms Feasey’s letter said: “We continue to look at traditional and innovative new methods to reduce flooding and improve levels of service for our customers and a drainage area plan for those drainage catchments served by Weatherlees Hill Wastewater Treatment works (which includes Deal) is scheduled to commence in 2016.”