A disabled man claimed his pleas for help were ignored by police and ambulance staff as floodwaters poured into his home.

Carer Scott Kristen, 27, said he was was left to rescue Wei-Kan Cheung, 33, who has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, from their bungalow in Aireworth Close, but police say they followed calls for help.Mr Kristen said they received no assistance from either the police or ambulance service on Tuesday morning despite desperate phone calls to both pleading for help.

The two friends had returned from Newcastle on Sunday night after competing in the Great North Run.

Scott, who provides 24-hour care for Wei-Kan, says he was left screaming in frustration as they were left in two and a half feet of water.

He says: "The first we knew about the situation was when our next door neighbour started banging on our door at 5am. I phoned the police and told them how serious our situation was and they said they couldn't help us and told us to phone the ambulance service.

"We phoned the ambulance service and they said our case wasn't an emergency and told us to ring the police.

"I phoned Keighley Police Station back and they said all they could do was to put us up in a police cell."

Scott adds: "By this time I was hysterical and so I got Wei-Kan out of bed, shoved some clothes on him, picked him up and carried him out of the house. Some firefighters asked if we needed some help but by this point I was able to carry him to a boat which took us both to safety".

After staying in temporary accommodation in Fellbrigg Avenue, the pair headed up to Scott's native Newcastle on Wednesday evening.

Sgt Allan Gee, of Keighley police, says they received a call at 6.20am and another two minutes later.

He adds that an officer was dispatched within minutes to the address, but on arrival it was found that the fire service had already moved the man.

Sgt Gee says there is no record of the caller having been referred to the ambulance service.