DR Richard Taylor is hoping to help spread Bewdley's flood expertise across the country after joining a group of MPs set up to lobby the Government on the issue.

The Wyre Forest MP has joined up with seven other members whose constituencies lie on the River Severn in the cross-party group set up by Worcester's Labour MP Michael Foster.

The group's aim is to share information on a host of flood-related issues - and Dr Taylor hopes it will expand to include MPs from across the country.

The Government is expected to rubber-stamp the creation of a National Flood Defence Forum in Bewdley, to be run by Peter Barnett and Gill Holland of Bewdley Residents' Flood Committee, in the next few weeks.

Dr Taylor said: "For the moment we are just talking about the Severn but I'm rather keen to involve other parts of the country.

"If there is going to be a national forum based in Bewdley it would be very useful for them to have a national group of MPs."

He explained that the Severn group of MPs had come together to pool resources as "there is no point reinventing the wheel".

"I'm very keen to see that the expertise that has already been gained by the Bewdley Residents' Flood Committee is shared across the country," Dr Taylor added.