A couple whose house has been devastated by flooding from the River Wharfe claim that they have been forgotten by emergency

services.

Adrian and Alison Denman who live in Castley, near Pool-in-Wharfedale, say they have had no warning of any floods, despite their house being flooded on three occasions in the last fortnight, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

The Denman's and their neighbours in the tiny village, who claim they have been sacrificed in favour of areas like York, are so angry they are launching their own campaign for flood defences and better warnings in the future.

They say they have been left asking the question: "What about us?"

Mr Denman said: "The only call we had was an automated message from the Environment Agency last week telling us that floods were imminent - but that was when we were already knee-deep in water in our house.

"I had to wade through the water to get to the phone. How stupid is that? What use is it? It was absolute lunacy, almost sick.

"We are the forgotten few. It appears that the minority has been sacrificed for the majority in York - and the powers-that-be just seem to have forgotten us.

"We have had no other warnings other than the one that I got when it was too late and no effort to defend us."

Mr Denman said the floods had taken their toll on both him and his wife - but had made them determined to get some action.

"We have been flooded three times in the last two weeks. Our house is now uninhabitable, there is no sanitation or washing materials and you can't live in basically the whole ground floor.

"We were also flooded in June and hadn't got over that yet - we were still living on floor boards and bare walls. We have now been put back months and this latest round of floods will cost us thousands and thousands of pounds. Absolute thousands.

"All the neighbours are absolutely disgusted about the way things have gone. We've all been sitting here waiting for them to take some action to help us but we have been left here to rot."

The Denmans and their neighbours in Castley are about to write to MP Harold Best and local city councillors in a bid to get some action and prevent the same thing happening again.

Last week, Wharfedale Newspapers

reported how Otley resident Marie Consoli spent half the night knocking on people's doors in the Bridge Avenue area to warn them of possible flooding after there

was no warning from the Environment Agency.