BRADFORD FLOODS WITH VIDEO: Upset turns to anger as the flood waters subside in the Bradford district

With the waters subsiding, major clear-ups were under way across the district today as people surveyed the damage to their homes.

In many places, people described how community volunteers, neighbours and families had all had to rally round in the absence of official help.

In Bingley, resident Linda Howell said she was "incensed" by the lack of assistance from the authorities.

Mrs Howell, 61, had to abandon her terraced house in Ash Grove on Boxing Day, where the flood waters reached a foot high.

But she said she had been given no help from Bradford Council, the Environment Agency, the army or the emergency services.

She said: "We were totally ignored and abandoned. It was just unbelievable. When we saw all the stories on the television about the armed forces coming, we had nothing.

"I am just incensed by being abandoned when it happened."

Warren Allitt pumps out flood water at Bradford and Bingley Sports Club

And she said it was a similar story for her neighbours, with the exception of one man who had been visited by police officers.

She said elderly neighbours had been stranded in their homes because they couldn't get out through the floods on their own.

Ruined possessions left outside people's homes in Ash Grove, Bingley

However, Bradford Council leader David Green rejected criticism. He said partner agencies had helped out in many cases and staff and councillors were working around the clock to help as many people as possible.

Mrs Howell said the community had rallied round in the absence of official help. She said a group of community volunteers, called Bingley Flood Support Group, had been a huge help.

She said: "They have been fantastic. I don't know what I would have done without them to be honest."

Another full of praise for the flood support group was Marie Healey, 51, whose home in Castlefields Lane, Crossflatts, Bingley, was under 5ft of water.

"I feel absolutely overwhelmed by the help I have received. It's just incredible," said Miss Healey, who has an autistic 17-year-old son.

Residents in Bingley deal with the flooding aftermath

Much of the surrounding area was still under water today. The grounds of Beckfoot School in Wagon Lane resembled a wetlands, with geese and ducks taking to the water.

On the other side of the road, Anthony and Leah Batty were surveying the damage to their two-storey house after the flood waters reached two to three feet high.

The couple, who only redecorated their house before Christmas, were faced with a scene of devastation on the ground floor, with kitchen cupboards, flooring and furniture all having to be ripped out and dumped in a skip.

Mrs Batty, 72, said the response from the authorities had been woeful.

She said: "We have had no help whatsoever. We haven't seen anybody and we have had not one sandbag."

The clean-up in Baildon

But Mrs Batty said the volunteers from the Bingley Flood Support Group, operating from Bingley Scout Hut, had been "absolutely marvellous" and the couple had also had a lot of support from family.

She said the flood water had poured in very suddenly on Boxing Day.

"I had all the family round, I had the buffet set and everything. At half past two, the water came through, just as all the family were arriving for the Boxing Day buffet," she said.

Linda Howell clearing up the damage at her home in Ash Grove, Bingley, after the floods

Mr Batty, 74, said: "We started getting stuff upstairs, what we could."

The couple said their home had never flooded before.

Mrs Batty said: "We consider ourselves more fortunate that the majority, because we have got family support. I just feel so sorry for the people that haven't got this support."

• COUNTING THE COST OF THE BRADFORD BOXING DAY FLOODS
• UPDATE WITH MORE PICTURES: BRADFORD CLEANS UP AS MORE RAIN IS FORECAST AND NEW WARNINGS ARE ISSUED
• BRADFORD FLOODS 2015 - 141 PICTURES IN OUR ONLINE GALLERY
• CALLS MADE FOR "COMPLETE RETHINK" OF EXTREME WEATHER PREPARATIONS
• UPDATE: FLOODS STILL CAUSING ROAD AND RAIL MISERY IN BRADFORD DISTRICT

One of those helping to clear the home was David Bayliss, of Cottingley, who works for Harden-based flood response company Response UK.

Mr Bayliss said he had been volunteering his services on Sunday, and had rescued one man in his seventies from his home in Ash Grove.

He said: "He had been sat in his armchair with his feet off the ground all night.

"The Bingley Flood Support Group said, 'We can't get in, but we know someone is in there'.

"I knocked on the door and a guy came and answered it. He said, 'I'm alright', then suddenly collapsed."

Mr Bayliss said the man was taken away by ambulance.

He said he had been surprised at the lack of response from the authorities, especially compared to the recent floods in Cumbria, which he had also helped at.

He said: "In Kendal, they were checking to see who was in domestic properties - to see if they were okay, if they have they got somewhere to live.

"There has been none of that here."

Volunteers clearing up after the floods at Saltaire Cricket Club

A major clean-up operation was also under way today at Bradford and Bingley Sports Club, where a building housing indoor cricket nets was still under water.

Warren Allitt, of the cricket club, was busy pumping the remaining water out of the building.

He said both the cricket and the rugby clubs had lost a lot of equipment to the flood and they were now trying to secure some emergency cash to help with the clear-up operation.

He said: "Obviously, financially, it does hit us big-time."

Similar clear-up efforts were ongoing at Saltaire cricket club in Roberts Park, where flood waters had reached three feet high, wrecking furniture in the clubhouse and destroying thousands of pounds of machinery such as ride-on lawnmowers and strimmers in a nearby store.

Club chairman Simon Hicks said they were determined to get back on their feet by the start of the season in April.

The nearby Half-Moon Cafe had felt the full force of the floods, with the water lifting up and flipping over a chest freezer used to store its ice-creams.

Manager James Spencer, cleaning up the damage caused by the floods at the Half Moon Cafe, Saltaire

Manager James Spencer said fridges, freezers, furniture and stock had all been destroyed.

He said: "This breaks my heart. I couldn't stay yesterday. I got too emotional."

Damage caused by the floods at the Half Moon Cafe, Saltaire

Officials of Olicanian Cricket Club in Ilkley were devastated when they saw that their new square, relaid at a cost of £46,000 in September, had been damaged by floodwater. They are now waiting for experts to assess the situation.

Their captain and groundsman Harry Smallwood said: "I was horrified when I arrived at the ground on Boxing Day. Everywhere was covered in water and leaves, branches and logs had all been washed onto the ground. Now the water has receded there is a lot of silt and the grass on the square is sparse with little root growth."

The Jamia Masjid Hanfia mosque in Ambler Street, Bradford, has also been collecting and distributing supplies to those in need.