Insurance companies should get tougher on homes built on flood plains and just say no when homeowners apply for insurance, according to the head of the Environment Agency (EA).

Baroness Young, the EA's chief executive, in an interview to be aired on Channel 4's Dispatches programme, said that she believes that denying home insurance cover could be the only way of stopping new houses being built on flood plains.

The advice comes against the backdrop of this summer's devastating floods, which caused an estimated £3 billion of damage and killed up to 14 people.

The proposal could put a spanner in the works of the government's aim to build three million new homes, of which up to a third, say experts, would be at risk.

Dispatches also claims that officials were aware in 2006 that flood defences were "severely rationed".

The Association of British Insurers told Dispatches: ""For new customers individual insurers will decide if they are able to offer flood cover."

The after effects of the summer floods are still being felt with hundreds of people still living in temporary accommodation.

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