THE Kent coast narrowly escaped major flooding as a the tidal surge failed to overtop the sea defences.

The emgergency services and the Environment Agency scaled down its activities early on Friday evening.

The county was on high alert overnight and into Friday as low pressure from the Atlantic caused the tidal surge down the east coast of England.

Harvey Bradshaw, area manager for the Environment Agency in Kent, said on Friday night: "We have been very fortunate to have avoided widespread flooding.

"Coastal flood defences protected up to 10,000 homes from flooding. Our early flood warnings system also meant that people had lots of time to prepare for possible flooding.

"We will continue to monitor sea levels and defences but we aren’t expecting to see any further problems over the weekend."

Anyone who is concerned about flood risk can ring the Environment Agency’s Floodline on 08459 881188, tune in to local media for updates or visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk for more information.

Asst Ch Con Allyn Thomas said he was pleased with how the event was handled.

He stressed: "The co-ordinated work of all the agencies has been tremendous and we had good contingency plans in place, which thankfully were not needed."