And John Healey said he has spoken to the Environment Agency about bringing forward works to improve flood defences for the town, which were due to start in 2011.

The Floods Recovery Minister visited the town on Monday and saw some of the homes ruined by water after a month's worth of rainfall fell in one day, with about 400 people having to be moved to higher ground and more than 1,000 properties affected.

He set out to reassure residents that support will come for the clean up operation in the coming weeks and months.

"I have been speaking to council leaders, the Police and Fire Service and we will make Government cash available to meet the costs of the recovery work they will do," Mr Healey said on Monday.

"And we will look at providing further support for them if it's needed."

While saying no flood defence system could have dealt with the amount of rain on Saturday, he indicated that plans for an upgrade to them could be started sooner than previously expected.

He said: "Both myself, Hilary Benn and local MP Denis Murphy have talked with the Environment Agency and what may be a £13 to £15m investment could be brought forward."

Mr Healey praised the emergency services, including the Fire Service, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Royal Air Force and council workers, for their efforts to evacuate people from their homes and house them temporarily and overnight.

He warned that it will be a long-term process to get things back to normal in Morpeth, but is impressed with how quickly recovery plans have started.

"The problems don't go away when the flood waters go down, but the Government is certainly in this for the long haul," he said.

"A recovery plan is already in place with the first meeting of the recovery group being held last thing on Monday and this is the first day where we move out of emergency response to the long-term recovery."

The Minister added that he will return to Morpeth to see how the clean up is going if asked to.