ANGRY Inverclyde Council chiefs today slammed the Scottish Government after it ‘snubbed’ an urgent £3m plea for funds to help ease flooding misery.

Local authority bosses declared that the district had been ‘holed under the water’ as a result of not securing cash which they say is vital for an array of projects.

Officials had submitted a bid for £3.1m to help tackle problems at 16 flooding hotspots within Inverclyde.

But the government insists that the council’s application failed to meet specified criteria regarding ‘support to large flood protection projects’.

However, Municipal Buildings bosses have hit back, accusing Holyrood chiefs of sending out ‘very mixed messages’ on the important matter.

Council leader Stephen McCabe has also challenged government officials to visit Inverclyde and see for themselves the particular problems which affect the district.

Mr McCabe said: “Inverclyde is unique in Scotland when it comes to the topography of the land and the challenges that presents when it comes to controlling flooding.

“This clearly hasn’t been taken into account by the panel examining these funding bids.

“Sitting between hills on one side and the Clyde coast on the other, we suffer flooding in a way that is not caused by the bursting of one major river or a single catastrophic event.

“Flooding in Inverclyde occurs in a number of places and that is why the scheme put forward aimed to tackle that situation.” The council says it has lost up to £700,000 as a result of a ‘flooding component’ of the authority’s annual funding grant from Edinburgh being removed in 2012/13.

Yet Mr McCabe said that he had been ‘assured’ that smaller local authorities, such as Inverclyde, would be favoured for the fresh cash pot.

The council boss insists they had been ‘actively encouraged’ to submit a multi-million-pound cash plea, which he said was confirmed by the government as acceptable under the terms of the scheme.

He said: “While the council has been left holed under the water by the Scottish Government’s review panel it is the residents and economy of Inverclyde that will feel the real cost of this decision.

“It is our homes, businesses and roads that will continue to be flooded during severe weather while the cash is spread across other areas or retained by the Scottish Government.

“This decision is particularly galling when it would appear there is still flooding money left unallocated in the national scheme.” Meanwhile, council chief executive, John Mundell, has fired off a letter to the government seeking ‘clarity’ over the snub.

In his letter, Mr Mundell states: ‘If we rely on the (government) panel’s interpretation of what constitutes a major flooding project then it would appear that Inverclyde will never qualify for flooding support as the flooding is not caused by a single major water course, as is the case in other areas.’ But the Scottish Government today insisted that the council’s application failed to meet the required funding criteria.

A spokeswoman said: “Applications were assessed by a joint COSLA/Scottish Government panel against the specific criteria set out in the guidance to applicants.

“Those applications which have not been successful were considered by the panel not to have met the identified criteria.

“The scheme submitted by Inverclyde Council failed to meet the main eligibility requirement for projects that it should be a large, new flood protection project costing over £2 million.

“The panel’s view was that the application was for an amalgamation of clearance and repair works, which had been pulled together in order to meet the minimum cost threshold of £2 million, rather than a single large flood protection scheme requiring funding.

“Scottish Government and COSLA officials will, in due course, discuss the process for the allocation of the balance of £19 million in funding that remains unallocated.”