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'Flooding has left us nervous every time it rains'

BBC A view from behind two men stood in residential road who are facing a flooded area. One is wearing a dark jacket, beige trousers and wellies. The other is wearing a hooded top, wooly hat, blue jeans and trainers.BBC
People said they felt "on tenterhooks" whenever it rains

Angry residents whose homes have been damaged for a second time in four years in the devastating New Year's Day flooding have told how they have been left "nervous every time it rains".

People living in Callands and Dallam in Warrington, Cheshire, have also expressed frustration at what they said was a lack of progress in flood prevention measures.

Homes in the areas, which were flooded in 2021, were hit again at the turn of the year.

"This year we had two feet of water," Craig Rathbone said. "Everything I couldn't get upstairs got destroyed."

A pile of ripped up grey carpet in a garden outside a house. Sandbags can be seen against the step and door of the house. A pile of bricks and two wheelie bins are in the background.
One resident said he had to rip out his carpet after the flooding

"My wife works from home and her studio has been completely destroyed," he continued.

"Now we are just at the hands of the insurance."

Fellow resident Craig McIntyre said the fresh damage was "highly frustrating" but "not a surprise".

"When I moved here 11 years ago the brook had no water in it, you couldn't even pay play pooh sticks with kids, now it is constantly full," he said.

'Not working'

Resident Mavis McCabe people are "always on tenterhooks".

"We are all concerned it could happen again at anytime," she said.

"The preventative measures are obviously not working."

A flood prevention scheme for Sankey Brook has been proposed but funding is yet to be confirmed.

Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols said she was working with the Environment Agency, the council and local residents to get the project started "as soon as possible".

"Ultimately it will be the Sankey Brook flood risk management scheme which will help protect Callands and neighbouring Dallam from floods in the future," she said.

"I support this scheme and I want to assure residents that the government is investing in preventing flooding in the future."

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