Floods of the severity of those in eastern England 50 years ago would have less of an impact today, a government minister has said.

Elliot Morley said major improvements in flood defences and warning systems meant the risk to people and property was now reduced.

He was speaking at a conference in Norwich to mark the 50th anniversary of the floods, which killed 307 people and damaged 24,000 homes.

"We have learned and invested a lot since 1953," he said.

Mr Morley: "We must not be complacent"

Thursday's conference was organised by the Environment Agency to look at the cause of the flooding and ask whether it could happen again.

Mr Morley, of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said there were "real fears" that such weather conditions could be repeated.

But he added: "We do live in different times, not least because we are better at warning people."

He said the Storm Tide Forecasting Service was set up "as a direct result of the lessons learned in 1953".

Mr Morley said improvements had also been made to flood defence systems in the past half-century.

Good record

He singled out recent sustainable schemes where sea defences have been breached to allow the land to become saltmarsh.

"Managed realignment such as that at Abbots Hall and Boston is not a solution everywhere, but it can provide an answer in some areas, working with nature, protecting people and property, with the added benefit of helping the environment."

Mr Morley said the UK had a good record in managing flood risk.

"But we are not complacent.

"We need to press on with building and maintaing defences... to have an integrated, sustainable and strategic approach to managing the risk of flooding on our coastline."