THE way in which a local authority dealt with the effects of floods in a tiny village has won it a nomination for a national award.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has been nominated in the community initiative category of the Local Government Chronicle Awards 2002 for the way it looked after people in Skinningrove, east Cleveland, following devastating floods in July and November 2000.

Just a month after residents moved back into their homes following the summer floods, the village was hit again, with even more serious consequences than before.

The council helped to rebuild the community by providing emergency shelter for families whose homes were engulfed by water, organising a major clean-up operation in the aftermath and putting in extensive million pound flood prevention defences.

The awards nomination said: "Such a rapid recovery, not once but twice, underlined the strength of links between the community and the council and an array of support services including the RNLI, the coastguards, St John Ambulance and other emergency services. It involved council officers decamping full-time into the community.

"The most difficult aspect has been finding ways to prevent another flood and the council believes it has provided a framework for hope."

Councillor Dave McLuckie, the lead member for community safety with the council, said that he was delighted with the nomination.

"It was a particularly difficult and heartrending situation on both occasions, but particularly on November 2," he said.

"It shows that the council not only looked after the residents in a compassionate way, but also recognised that the area required protection sooner rather than later."

The council decided to go ahead with the work immediately and not wait until the Government's aid package was announced