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Worksop flood victims fear the worst as thunderstorms return
AS thunderstorms raged over Worksop on Friday morning, victims of the Worksop floods say they fear a repeat of the nightmare scenes of June 2007.
Residents have criticised the authorities for not doing more to safeguard their homes since the devastating flood waters damaged 800 properties across the district.
But Notts County Council and the Environment Agency have moved to assure people that flood prevention work is a 'key priority'.
on, who lives on Brook Terrace, said that the thought of the floods happening again is always hanging over her.
"The water came right up and was lapping at the porch," she said. "We just hope and pray that it doesn't happen again. If we know we're going to have bad weather then we really worry about it."
Dean Wright, 30, and his young family were forced to leave their Allen Street home for six months after the flood waters ripped through their groundfloor.
"I am only aware of the drain on our street being cleaned out once in two years," he said.
"Our home is still not back to normal and we're still having to get the builders back in to sort out damp and a leak in our bathroom."
"In a way, there is just not a lot we can do as residents. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen."
Meanwhile, there are reports of fridges, huge barrels, supermarket trollies and other rubbish being illegally dumped in the River Ryton between Priorswell Road and Bracebridge.
Fears are growing that the increased rubbish will clog up the river and cause it to flood again.
Bracebridge resident Geoff Coe, who has been campaigning for the Ryton to be cleared up, said: "The flooding will happen again if we don't do something more to stop it."
Bassetlaw councillors Josie Potts and Simon Greaves are also concerned about the problem and reported the flytipping to the council back in April.
Julian Proudman, head of environmental health at Bassetlaw Council, said: "We referred the concerns to our environment services unit, which found that the blockage involves the canal feeder. This is the responsibility of British Waterways. I believe they were contacted at that time, but to be certain, we contacted them again yesterday and they agreed to investigate."
"As we understood it, the issue is one of environmental crime rather than an issue of potential flooding. Our engineering services department, which deals with land drainage and flooding issues, are unaware of any problems."
"We have not had any reports from members of the public. Anyone with concerns about flooding should contact our engineering services team on 01909 533533."
The Environment Agency is calling on people to report any sightings of people flytipping to its special hotline.
A spokesman for the agency said: "We'd like to stamp out this problem and to do so we need help from members of the public."
"We'd like to appeal for anyone who witnesses people dumping large items in the river or on the riverbank to record as many details as they safely can and call us straight away on our free incident hotline on 0800 807060."
Notts county councillor Richard Jackson, cabinet member for Transport and Highways, said: "Responding to drainage and flooding problems is a key priority for us. We now have two dedicated drainage response units – costing 70,000 each – that respond to drainage and flooding problems."
"We are looking to strengthen our drainage team who will be working with other agencies to give a better response to flooding and drainage problems."
Worried residents can sign up to a free, 24-hour flood warning system that gives advance notice of flooding in our area by telephone, mobile, fax, pager or email.
To register for Floodline Warnings Direct contact Floodline on 0845 988 1188.
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Weather for Worksop
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North west
