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A Welsh MP is backing a bid to flood hills in Wales to protect English border towns from flooding.

But Montgomeryshire MP, Glyn Davies, has warned there is a danger of the multi-million pound project being ignored by the UK government with the cost falling on the Welsh government.

As part of the Pumlumon project in Mid-Wales’ Cambrian mountains, farmers have been encouraged to slow the flow of water to protect lowland areas.

The project, which would cover 40,000 hectares of rural Wales, has finished a trial period and now the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust is looking for funding to roll the scheme it has been funding out.

Mr Davies said the project has the potential to save large English border towns from flooding after he saw lowland grazing fields in the Severn Valley flooded.

He said: “Even though this will happen in Wales, the benefit will be felt entirely in England and my concern is the cost will fall completely on the Wales. If all the benefit will be for England then I want this to be debated in the House of Commons.

“This is going to reduce the productivity of Welsh farmers because it will impact the way they work and use their land so there will need to be a grant to encourage them to take part, it’s just a case of finding the funding for this.

“There is not enough of the benefit coming to the areas where the floods originate in. Instead there has been pressure to build flood defences in towns like Shrewsbury and Tewkesbury. I just don’t want this to land on the Welsh government when it’s going to benefit England.”

Liz Lewis-Reddy, head of living landscapes at the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, said: “If we can find a way to pay farmers to protect towns from flooding then we could have a rural economy embedded in the natural environment.

“The next step is to find a way to pay for this.”