A new fund is offering cash for ideas to stop rainwater overloading sewers.

Southern Water's Community SuDS Fund is offering grants of up to £3,000 for effective solutions.

The fund is open to community groups and businesses with ideas to keep rainwater from rushing into the sewer system.

Sustainable Drainage Schemes (SuDS) like raingardens, adapted water butts, and wetlands are among the solutions being encouraged.

Find out more about the fund and different SuDS solutions at a drop-in event on Friday, October 4, between 12pm and 4pm at The Isle of Wight Community Club, Park Road, Cowes.

Make your application, until November 3, at the website southernwater.co.uk 

These methods help manage water by slowly releasing it back into the environment, preventing sewer overload.

Rapid water flow into sewers can overwhelm pipes and wastewater treatment sites, leading to storm overflows into the environment.

Southern Water's teams on the Isle of Wight are already working on improving the network, but they are seeking public help to further reduce storm overflows.

Partnerships delivery manager for Southern Water, Joanne Wood, said: "We know how passionate customers on the Isle of Wight are about the local environment and waterways, and this is why we want to work with them and hear about their ideas to collectively slow the flow of rainwater.

"Any idea can have a wider benefit of reducing storm overflows to ensure that the Isle of Wight can have clean rivers and seas."