Areas prone to flooding could be put at further risk due to funding shortfalls, according to a council report.

In the last two years, Waltham Forest has experience twenty flood incidents, with the majority being surface flooding at carriageways in Lower Hall Lane and Royston Avenue, Chingford, and Harold Road, Walthamstow. 

According to a report presented yesterday at a neighbourhoods committee meeting, 166 properties are at risk in South Chingford, the Fillebrook area of Leytonstone and near Chestnuts Field in Walthamstow. 

Waltham Forest council has applied for funding from the Flood Defence Grant in Aid (FDGiA) so it can appoint consultants to carry out drainage investigations and prepare schemes for these three areas. 

But the council's ability to manage flood risks from surface water, groundwater brooks, streams and ditches could be affected as of next year as its sole funding looks set to be cut. 

Funding for 2013/14 from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was £187,000 but is expected to be reduced by 15 per cent or £28,000 in the next financial year. 

The council report states: "The increased occurrence of extreme weather events places a strain on the existing drainage network meaning residents and businesses could be increasingly affected by flooding and surface water issues in the future."

This year, six investigations have been carried out, five of which related to families being evacuated from floods in the Lower Hall Lane, Chingford, in February after the River Lea burst its banks. 

Thames Water and the Environment Agency (EA) were heavily criticised for not opening in time. 

Over the next decade, the EA plans to install a new flood warning station on the Ching Brook, Chingford, continue maintenance and refurbishment of sluices and weirs as part of the Lea Flood Relief Channel and increase protection along the Dagenham Brook in Walthamstow and Leyton.