Towns and cities around the country have been left devastated by freak storms that have swelled the levels of rivers to unprecedented levels.

There have also been implications for residents of Aylesbury Vale with areas such as Winslow, Stoke Mandeville and Bishopstone suffering badly from flooding.

With more than ten thousand new homes due to be built in the Vale over the next 20 years the issue of flood protection is becoming increasingly important.

Housing Minister Yvette Cooper recently said the Government would continue to build houses on flood plains but councils would also need to start planning 'more widely for the consequences of climate change,' such as providing appropriate flood defences.

There are three main watercourses that flow in and around Aylesbury including the River Thame, Hardwick Brook and the Grand Union Canal that make up the areas of flood plain in the town.

A flood plain is an area of flat or nearly flat land adjacent to a stream or river that experiences occasional or periodic flooding.

One of the concerns that has been expressed about the Berryfields site to the north of Aylesbury is that part of the allocated land lies on existing flood plain.

Martin Dalby, plans team leader for Aylesbury Vale District Council, said that despite the fact some of the allocated land was on a flood plain there were no plans to build on it.

Mr Dalby said: "I can categorically state there will be no building on flood plains in the Berryfield development. The existing flood plain area will either be left as green space or will be used as a flood storage area."

When deciding where to build new houses, Aylesbury Vale District Council takes the advice of the Environment Agency which provides detailed information about the flood risk of a certain area.

By closely analysing the levels of the land, environmental officers are able to establish which areas are the most low-lying and liable to flood the most frequently.

The data is then put into a computer programme that creates different rainfall 'models' which show exactly how different areas cope when a large amount of water is poured into the surrounding streams and rivers.

The district council is then provided with a map which divides the land into Flood Zones One, Two and Three (as shown on the map above).

Flood Zone Three is an area that is believed to flood once every 100 years, Flood Zone Two is an area that floods once every 200 years while Flood Zone One is an area at no risk of flooding.

However, the record levels of rainfall this year are now forcing the Environment Agency to re-define the probabilities of flood risk.

Mr Dalby said: "The estimate is that there will be a 20 per cent increase in flooding if you take into account climate change. What used to be a one in a 100 year event can now happen every 10 years."

"For example, an area such as Watermead, where part of it was built on a flood plain, developers would probably not be able to get planning permission to build there now."

However, Mr Dalby believes that Watermead is also a good example of how you can build houses in flood risk areas as long as you take adequate flood protection measures.

He said: "The lakes were built on Watermead as a flood prevention measure. The fact that the area did not flood during the heavy rains in the last few weeks shows that flood prevention works."

Aylesbury Vale District Council has also successfully used a flood prevention scheme in Broughton to alleviate some of the flooding problems in that area and the centre of the town.

A flood storage area has also been set up near to Bear Brook so that in the event of heavy rainfall the field floods and collects some of the rainwater before it begins to flood into the town.

The possibility of having two more flood storage areas is also a reason why district planners have said they would prefer to see 9,300 new homes built to the south of the town.

Mr Dalby said: "We see opportunities for flood storage areas around the existing development in the southern arc. We have not got so many options in the North for flood protection."

The severity of the storms this summer has also highlighted the risk of flash flooding in areas where the drainage system has not been able to cope.

Mr Dalby said that there had been unprecedented flooding in villages in north Bucks because the drainage system had been unable to cope with the recent heavy rainstorms.

He said: "With all that has been going on this summer, flooding is a big issue in the public's mind. When we build new homes we want to lessen the risk of flooding not worsen it."