POLITICIANS need to roll their sleeves up, according to Sir Keir Starmer, who said it is awful residents' homes keep flooding.

The Labour leader said he is not surprised Worcester residents are sick of flooding, and politicians always act too late to tackle the constant situation.

Sir Keir, who spoke to the Worcester News after a Q&A with students from the University of Worcester, said: "I am not surprised they are sick of it. 

"It is awful when your house has flooded or your business has flooded.

"When your house floods, it ruins everything.

"It stinks and it stays there for a very long time and your insurance probably goes through the roof.

"It is awful.

"What I want to stop is politicians doing nothing about it and then coming along in January and February and showing empathy with those whose homes have flooded yet again.

"What you need is a flood resistance task force which gets ahead of this in the autumn and takes action to stop the flooding in the first place.

"We have got to do the prevention bit because otherwise, we have no end to politicians coming when the flood has ended in February saying, 'I am really sorry, it's awful'.

"Well, if they really mean that, then get a task force, roll your sleeves up, and let's actually put the resilience in place."

Worcestershire County Cricket Club revealed it could move from its New Road location due to the constant flooding of its grounds. 

Sir Keir said the same preventative messages need to be put in place for the club and for the Worcester City Racecourse.