I HOPE that you have all had a bit of peace and quiet over Christmas and New Year and that you have been able to spend time with loved ones.

I'd like to pay special tribute to all those police, emergency services, Environment Agency staff and doctors and nurses who kept working round the clock throughout the festive period.

Despite the heavy rainfall, so far the Severn, Teme and Avon are just having normal midwinter floods and temperatures remain higher than normal.

Let's hope that the flood defences, flood plains and rivers do what they are meant to do in winter, and homes and businesses stay safe.

I am delighted that the new chief executive of the Environment Agency has said that it will look once again at the flood defence formula. It has always seemed to me to underestimate the value of the protection flood defences give to places like Upton-upon-Severn, Kempsey, Uckinghall, Powick, Worcester, Bewdley and Pershore.

While we wait for Tesco to follow up on its promises to improve flood walls alongside the river I welcome all progress made by the town council to develop a long-term plan to protect the town.

It's also worth seeing if there are any new individual protection measures that could help your own property and grants may be available to help home-owners with the cost. Also, please don’t risk driving through flooded areas if you or your car can’t cope.

Health service workers do an amazing job throughout the year and the extra winter pressures place our limited resources at full stretch.

We can all do our bit my making sure that we only visit busy Accident and Emergency departments when the need is urgent and to either visit our local GP or dial 111 for expert advice. Our highly-valued community hospitals such as our excellent one in Tenbury also offer assistance for minor injuries and often have very little waiting time for cuts and scrapes or minor ailments.

So let's thank everyone who works so hard to keep us safe, mainly dry, and well cared for in Worcestershire and I for one will continue to campaign for improvements to our flood resilience, our local health resources and our infrastructure throughout the year to come.