TIDWORTH will be better equipped to deal swiftly with any flooding that takes place in the town this winter thanks to a deal with the Army.

The parish council, which has been looking for a site to store a large quantity of sand and sandbags, has reached agreement with the military and a site has been found.

"We have been allowed to use a garrison building in Humber Lane where we can put sand in one ton bags together with sandbags," chairman Cllr Humphrey Jones told the parish council. "The keys to the building will be kept at the police station."

In times of emergency people will be able to respond quickly and fill sandbags rather than have to wait for bags to come from Kennet District Council further afield.

Councillors agreed to order three tons of builders' sand to be kept at the site. The sand can be ordered each September and returned in the spring if not used, on payment of a small handling charge. "We are grateful to the garrison for finding this place which is secure but outside the wire," added the chairman.

A long term solution to the River Bourne will require the involvement of the Environment Agency but the chairman said they had a large number of places to look at and Tidworth might not be the most urgent case.