Schemes in the North of England are particularly hard hit. Among those postponed are important flood defence projects in Leeds, York, Thirsk and Morpeth.

The biggest casualty of the Government cutback is the £200m Leeds project to prevent the city centre from being flooded by the River Aire.

The Government announced that 39 new flood defence projects will going ahead over the next four year, 21 of which will provide extra protection to more than 13,000 households.

A raft of much smaller schemes will provide “vital repairs and safety enhancements” to existing defences.

Just a handful of new schemes will start this year. The biggest are a £5.7m project to protect 180 properties from the River Derwent at Keswick in Cum and an £8m scheme to reduce the risk of coastal erosion and flooding to more than 1,600 homes in parts of Suffolk around Felixstowe.

Over the next year £521m will be spent managing flood risk.

In addition to new schemes, the funding will also be invested in ongoing work or completion of 108 projects already under construction, and a further 185 schemes will receive funding in 2011/12 for development work such as feasibility studies, for possible construction in future years.

The government expects to spend at least £2.1bn on flooding and coastal erosion over the next four years and improve protection for at least 145,000 homes.

Environment Minister Richard Benyon said: “Schemes which will contribute the most in terms of protection to households and economic benefit per pound spent have been prioritised.

“The Environment Agency and other risk management authorities have worked very closely to ensure that as many people as possible are protected from the threat of flooding using the resources available.”