WORCESTER'S MP has praised the city's flood recovery efforts in parliament - saying everyone should be "proud" of the progress so far.

Robin Walker told the commons he was immensely grateful for the efforts made to help the Faithful City get back to business.

He said: "Worcestershire County Council put huge effort into keeping the city open for business and I am very proud of all the shops, restaurants and small businesses that have stayed open through all of this and they deserve the full support of local people.

"Keeping the city open for business was a key priority throughout, and I acclaim the work of the Business Improvement District in Worcester, which ran a successful open for business campaign.

"Worcester is still very much open for business and I want to stress the importance of that."

"I welcome the fact that the Government has given business rate rebates to many of the businesses affected by the floods.

"There is also an extra £10 million for businesses that were not flooded but that were otherwise affected.

"I am concerned that a lot of businesses will have been affected in that way, and I hope that that amount can be increased in the future."