A GWENT councillor has hit out at the Environment Agency and Welsh Water for not placing more stringent controls on planning following this week's flooding.

David Attwell, Newport's member for Langstone spoke out after flooding in Penhow on Tuesday.

And he questioned why the EA and local councils appear to have "underspent" on flood defences over the last five years.

Mr Attwell - Newport council's opposition spokesman for engineering and transport said increased surface water from new developments was putting a strain on the waste water system.

He said: "While most of the blame is laid at the city council door, the Environment Agency should accept their share of responsibility also.

"These agencies should place more stringent controls on planning applications."

But both agencies maintain they are advisory bodies only in respect of planning.

A spokeswoman for Welsh Water said: "We can advise local authorities a development could overload existing infrastructure but they don't have to act on that information."

An EA spokeswoman echoed those comments.

Mr Attwell highlighted claims this week by the National Assembly's shadow environment minister Darren Millar that the EA and local authorities have "underspent" on flood defences in the last five years.

Mr Attwell says he's written to all the agencies concerned demanding answers.

Conservative AM for Clwyd West Mr Millar claimed this week he has obtained figures showing the EA had a total budget of £31,527,000 for flood defences between 2002 and 2007 but actually spent £29,797,000.

He also claims local councils in Wales have underspent by £5.9 million betwen 2002 and 2007 The EA responded by saying Mr Millar's figures did not show the full picture when it came to funding and its total capital expenditure on flood defences between 2002 and 2007 was in fact £47,438,000.

A spokeswoman said any actual underspend was due to projects coming in under budget, or due to delays beyond the control of the agency or external contributions from other bodies such as the EU.

No one was available for comment from Newport council regarding Mr Attwell's comments at the time of going to press.