(Image: Newsquest)
Scotland's transport secretary says "significant lessons" need to be learned after he visited businesses devastated by flood damage in Largs.
Stephen Flynn spoke with business owners reeling from Storm Boelo over the weekend during a trip to the town on Monday afternoon.
The cabinet secretary told our sister title the Largs and Millport Weekly News it was important for him to understand what happened in the town, with many businesses continuing to pump water out of their premises during his visit.
He said: "I've had the opportunity to speak to a number of business owners who have been impacted by the flood.
"There has been a variety of different impacts, including a restaurant whose kitchen has been submerged.
"It's important for me to be here to fully understand the scale of the impact on these individuals and their businesses.
"It's a devastating time for them. We need to ensure these people have the support they deserve."
Stephen Flynn, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, spoke with business owners devastated by flooding at the height of Storm Boelo over the weekend (Image: Newsquest)
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Largs businesses have been left angry by a lack of support with defences such as sandbags, with none arriving in the town until Sunday afternoon.
Flynn responded: "I've spoken with business owners who have been here for a long time and said to me they haven't seen anything like this before.
"The sandbags issue is something that's been mentioned by a number of people and I'll be taking that away.
"It's potentially the case that significant lessons need to be learned in that regard and we'll make sure that they are."
Business owners in the town, including Geraldo's owner Toni Dawson, are now calling for a permanent solution to the town's flooding problems.
Flynn agreed that the issue could be looked at to see if further flood defences were needed.
He said: "It's important from our perspective as a government that the local authority is working with businesses to fully understand the scale of the problems.
"We need to look at the modelling for years to come and see what defences need to be put in place.
"We also need to look at local factors that could be attributed that could stop localised flooding."
The area's MSP Kenneth Gibson joined the cabinet secretary on his walk around the town, and said the Scottish Government would support where it could.
He said: "I don't think anyone was prepared for the scale of the storm, and we need to look at how there can be no repeat in the future.
"We are always looking to see what we can do to try and improve flood defences for businesses and houses.
"There's more to it than just cleaning up dirty water. I'm delighted the government is here and actually listening."