THE second public meeting in response to Storm Arwen was held at Bellingham Town Hall on Friday, January 14.

Hexham MP, Guy Opperman, praised residents for their "excellent" contributions at meetings held in response to Storm Arwen.

The meetings were an opportunity for Mr Opperman’s constituents’ voices to be heard by representatives of the various stakeholders involved in responding to the devastating consequences of Storm Arwen.

The MP said residents were open with recommendations that will improve community resilience ahead of future storm events.

Guy Opperman said: "I am grateful for the excellent contributions from attendees at the meetings in Ponteland and Bellingham."

"Both meetings proved to be successful events. I look forward to using evidence from the meetings in a report, which I will be sending to Ofgem, to be considered for their Review."

He also thanked the representatives from Northern Powergrid, Northumberland County Council, Northumbrian Water, Forestry England and the NFU for attending.

Paul Glendinning, Northern Powergrid's Director of Policy and Markets, said: "We welcome the opportunity to speak to our customers, obtain their feedback and answer questions about Storm Arwen, our response and compensation."

Meetings have been held at Darras Hall Primary School on Thursday, January 13 and Bellingham Town Hall Friday, January 14.

Another two meetings will be held in January. The first will be at Hexham Mart on Thursday, January 27 from 6pm until 8pm, and at Allendale Town Hall on Friday, January 28 from 7pm until 9pm.