CAMPAIGNERS have pleaded with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to intervene in plans to abandon flood defences on the Suffolk coast.

The protestors, angry at plans to withdraw funding for flood defences on the Blyth estuary, staged a demonstration on Southwold promenade - timed to coincide with the Prime Minister’s holiday on the Suffolk coast.

Hundreds of people formed a human chain, linking arms and holding banners reading “Gord Help Us” and “Save Our Shoreline”.

The Environment Agency’s decision to stop maintaining flood defences on the Blyth in five years’ time will see hundreds of acres of land surrendered to the sea and threaten dozens of homes. It said it cannot justify the huge cost of continuing to repair the defences.

But campaigners said they would continue to fight the plans, and implored Mr Brown to help in their plight.

Sue Allen, chairman of the Blyth Estuary Group, said: “It’s ironic really. He (Mr Brown) has come to this beautiful area and yet the Government says they haven’t got the funds to protect it.

“We really want him to enjoy his holiday because it’s a lovely area. But we want him to come back in 20 years’ time and find we’ve still got a harbour and a £30 million-a-year tourism industry.”

Story in the Lowestoft Journal