KENDAL Town Council will have £20,000 to boost flood recovery in the town after increasing its precept in 2016/7.

The authority will identify schemes to benefit from the dedicated flood fund in the coming months.

Suggestions put forward by Mayor Cllr Chris Hogg included a ‘Best of Kendal’ weekend, combining the town’s best festivals, and a Heroes of Kendal event, commemorating people’s contributions.

At their meeting on Monday, councillors agreed to commit £1,000 from next financial year’s budget to help Kendal BID publicise the town, as well as £750 from this year’s budget for a PR campaign due to launch when Victoria Bridge has reopened.

They also voted to award £750 from the Christmas Lights and Festivals budget to a project by Comic Art Festival, which will see artists working with flood victims.

Just under £399 will also go to the Kendal Oral History Society, form this year’s budget, to help with a planned scheme to document residents’ experiences of the floods.

Councillors also discussed a list of questions to be asked of bodies including the Environment Agency, Cumbria County Council, South Lakeland District Council and United Utilities.

They included asking for details on why individual areas have flooded, especially those that have not flooded before, how many properties post 2009 have flooded, and the reason so much of the flood water was contaminated.