Controversial plans to deal with the threat of flooding around the Humber estuary would leave land and property worth £330m unprotected, it has been claimed.

Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart cited the figure during an adjournment debate in the House of Commons when he raised his concerns about the Environment Agency's Humber Flood Risk Management Strategy.

Under the proposals, maintenance of some defences would be withdrawn affecting areas including Easington, Sunk Island, Hessle, North Ferriby and Brough, with no compensation offered for loss of land or property.

As first revealed on the Mail's website yesterday, Mr Stuart claimed 11,500 hectares in the East Riding alone will lose their protection, including more than 2,000 homes.

According to the Environment Agency, 668 properties will be lost in the Sunk Island area, 62 will go in the village of Kilnsea and 10 will go in the village of Skeffling.

The Conservative MP claimed the total value of the land and property set to lose protection in the East Riding is £330m.

Mr Stuart said the value of the land in the East Riding set to lose protection is about £180m, while the value of property set to lose protection is about £150m.

Mr Stuart used last night's debate to call on the Government to consider the threat to supply of much-needed crops during a time of world food shortages.

He told MPs: "Government is preparing itself to abandon thousands of acres of prime farmland at a time of crippling world food shortages.

"Does it not seem both morally wrong and soundly stupid to throw away enormously productive farms such as this?

"If the Government's commitment to food security is to mean anything, surely they should be uplifting the value of agricultural land. At the moment they are doing the exact opposite. "

Mr Stuart also called on the minister to consider whether those affected should be compensated.

He said: "The issue of compensation is one that has come up time and time again over the past few months.

"Many of the people who bought their properties five, 10 or 15 years ago and who now face the prospect of having to abandon them, did so when the official Government policy was to hold the line, to defend the coastline.

"Are these people not entitled to some form of compensation?"

Earlier this year, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn visited the region to talk about flood protection plans.

Mr Benn said: "We all acknowledge we are dealing with climate change and rising sea levels and there is a lot of concern about how we deal with that.

"We are trying to manage uncertainty. We will continue to maintain as many defences as possible."