FLOODS may be just around the corner for people living close to the coast, the Environment Agency is warning.

It is exactly 20 years since a combination of high tides and strong winds battered the Lancashire coastline and flooded homes and businesses.

Damage at that time amounted to £6 million - and although coastal defences have improved since then no one should fall into the trap of thinking it cannot happen again, says the Agency.

It warns that climate change and global warming mean storms now threaten the coastline more than ever before. Floods that might have occurred once in every 100 years could happen more often.

Flood defence manager Jeff Lawrenson says: "Nobody can control the weather but we can be prepared for it. The Environment Agency is working to ensure that if a flood of the kind that happened in Morecambe Bay 20 years ago occurs again people will be better prepared and damage will be kept to a minimum.

"Many people face the risk of flooding so it is important they take simple steps to prepare for it."

He says worried locals should call Floodline for advice about what to do or visit the agency's website at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/ floods.

* Twenty years ago, on January 31, 1983, a combination of high tides and 75 mph winds caused severe floods along the coast.

Electricity supplies and telephones were cut off and 1,700 properties, including houses, shops, offices and restaurants were flooded - some were up to 800 metres from the sea front.