The PCC Council approved the fund last July to help printers, ex-printers and workers in the print, paper, publishing, inks and print consumables industries, along with their dependants.

However, despite giving out more than £290,000 in regular and one-off payments last year, the PCC only received claims for £5,000 of the £250,000 available to flood victims in Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Berkshire.

A PCC spokesman said: "In the end it was a bit of a sad result, but it was the right gesture and the PCC would make it again."

The figures were revealed at the PCC AGM on 8 April, when the charity announced a "small and controlled deficit" of £202,208 for 2007, against income of £2m and expenditure of £2.2m.

The deficit was almost entirely due to losses at the PCC's 40-bed Butlin House nursing home, in Bletchley, where below-target occupancy levels led to "seriously reduced income".

Meanwhile, the PCC unveiled its new five-year plan, based on four cornerstones: PCC Homes, PCC Helps, PCC Links and PCC Income Generation.

Outgoing chairman Sir Jeremy Elwes said: "Our four cornerstones will lay the foundations for the development and expansion of the services we offer in the years to come."

Elwes, who retired at the AGM, has been replaced by former deputy chairman Paul Rudd, while Polestar Group chief executive Barry Hibbert has taken up the post of PCC president for 2008/2009.