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Flood-ravaged Northern communities are not getting the emergency aid they need because the Treasury is blocking it, a town hall chief has claimed.

Richard Farnell, leader of Rochdale council in Greater Manchester - which is facing a bill of millions following Boxing Day’s storms - said there was a ‘battle’ taking place within Whitehall over whether to send immediate flood relief to the region.

He told the Manchester Evening News a row broke out during a meeting of Cobra , the government’s emergency response committee, over whether to issue funding.

He said: “The Department for Communities and Local Government wanted to offer immediate help and the Treasury pushed back.

“It’s the Treasury blocking immediate help getting out to councils and those affected by the floods. If needs be, we will have to dig deep and fund it ourselves because we are not prepared to leave residents and businesses stranded because of the floods.”

Rochdale council has already started paying £500 to each household washed out by Storm Eva. That money has been supplied to affected town halls by central government.

It has also cancelled council tax for those who have had to move out and business rates for firms that have been forced to stop trading, again a move funded by Whitehall.

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But the wider cost of the clean-up and to the local economy has not yet been calculated. Cllr Farnell said it would run into the millions.

“We have put a number of requests in to the government,” he said.

“Unfortunately the DCLG says ‘yes we want to help’ but then the Treasury are saying ‘hold on’. I think there’s a battle within the government.

“But we need them to sit down with us so we can explain it’s make or break for these businesses. My fear is a number will close otherwise, as some haven’t got insurance or adequate insurance, while others even with good insurance are finding there are clauses and exclusions that mean it won’t cover the true cost.

“We have got to work quickly with the government to help us do that.”

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Cllr Farnell said that would ‘seriously impact’ on its ability to respond to such crises in future, adding: “Even now we have been really struggling - I do fear for the future if these cuts are brought in.”

The Treasury could not be reached for comment.

But in a statement released this afternoon, the government said £60m had now been made available to deal with the aftermath across the north, up from an initial £51m.

That will include grants of up to £2,500 per business and £5,000 per household, although no details have yet been released of the application process.

A Treasury spokesperson said: "These claims, which we were not given the chance to respond to before publication, are completely untrue.

"The Treasury made clear days ago that it stands ready to provide equivalent support ‎to that offered in previous floods, and to do so as quickly as possible. Indeed the first tranche of payments is being made to local authorities in affected areas today.

There will be grants of up to £5,000 per affected household and £2,500 per business.

"We are talking all the time to ministers in other departments and local leaders about what more can be done."