The environment secretary has been criticised for not meeting residents of Ironbridge who were evacuated from their homes beside the River Severn after flood defences were overwhelmed.
George Eustice spent 45 minutes in Ironbridge but was whisked in and out of a fenced-off compound and did not visit a hotel a few minutes walk away, where evacuees were being looked after.
Eustice defended Boris Johnson for not visiting flood-stricken areas along the Severn and said he was in close contact with the prime minister and keeping him updated regularly.
Roy and Mary Guest, who had to leave their home on the Wharfage in Ironbridge, said they were disappointed Eustice had not visited them. “He was only down the road. He should have come here and heard our stories,” Roy Guest said. “Boris has sent one of his top people but he hasn’t come to see us.”
Jennifer Alexander, who has been out of her home, the Boat Inn in the nearby village of Jackfield, for four nights, said: “He really should have come to see us. It’s disappointing he hasn’t.”