A Cumbrian MP has vowed to lobby the Environment Secretary to ensure that towns in his constituency do not suffer the same fate they did last winter.

Jamie Reed, whose Copeland constituency includes Keswick, met with Lynne Jones, chairman of the town's flood action group to discuss what measures have and have not been put in place by the Environment Agency in the aftermath of Storm Desmond.

Mr Reed also discussed flooding with members of Keswick Town Council who raised concerns that the town would flood again if a similar amount of rain were to fall again this winter.

Mrs Jones, who runs Hazelmere guesthouse on Crosthwaite Road which was flooded itself, showed Mr Reed a number of areas where the River Greta had burst its banks.

One of those was just yards from her guesthouse. "Just before the flooding started, they took the wall down because they wanted to take the posts out and raise the level," she said.

"Why were they doing this in the winter if they thought it was going to flood?"

Mrs Jones also said that the river should be dredged in order to accommodate more water from further upstream. "What we really want is an increase of 3m in depth," she added.

Having listened to the concerns of councillors, Mr Reed said that he would be lobbying Angela Leadsom, the Environment Secretary, to ensure that appropriate measures will be put in place - and asked that people in and around the town make their voices heard.

"It's not just for Keswick but for all the areas around that were also affected," he told the News & Star.

"We'll be putting a report together detailing what happened in 2005, 2009 and last December and it's important that the local communities provide information about exactly what needs to be done."

But the Environment Agency has admitted that it cannot protect Keswick from all future flooding.

Amy Heys, senior officer with flood and coastal risk management national services at the agency, said: "We are mindful that with winter approaching people are starting to get anxious about the weather and risk of further flooding.

"Although this risk can never be entirely alleviated, we would like to make reassurances that we have prepared for the winter as best we can with a dedicated team and extra resources all in place."

Mr Reed said: "We know that global warming is happening and we're getting wetter winters.

"It'll take time but one thing that can be done now is dredging the rivers and that's something that I will be pushing for."