A West Midlands council is advising families to buy a "hurricane" survival kit usually needed only in disaster-prone foreign countries.The £100 kits have to be bought by residents themselves and are being recommended in case of hurricanes or floods, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Items on the survival list suggested by Birmingham City Council include a sleeping bag, camping stove, first aid box and wellington boots.Spare batteries, candles, a battery-powered radio, rubber gloves, waterproof clothing, long-life food and bottled water are all listed as other "essential" items.

Survival experts branded the idea ridiculous and said they would be only appropriate for foreign countries prone to natural disasters.

Lawrence Clark, 39, who was trained by Ray Mears for five years, said the measures were totally over the top.He said: "These measures seem very extreme for a city, you need this kind of kit if you lived in a country prone to natural disasters.

"It seems like an over-reaction to encourage people in the middle of England to buy expensive things like this."A spokesman for Birmingham City Council defended the advice, saying: "To have a camping stove is maybe a bit extreme, but the other items we think are just common sense.

"We're trying to help people deal effectively with emergencies. Birmingham was hit by a tornado five years ago and when homes were flooded these kind of items would have been very useful." -- Courtesy of Ananova.Com

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