RAIN falling in the wrong place meant flood warnings were not given, it has been revealed.

Because heavy rain fell in Otley and Pool-in-Wharfedale - instead of the more usual Grassington and Addingham - triggers were not set off and warnings were not given.

In addition, a flood warning for Castley was delayed on Monday morning because of the scale of the problem.

Swollen and blocked becks- which are not the responsibility of the Environment Agency - have also been blamed for this and last week's flooding.

Motorists again faced road closures on Monday and Tuesday of the A659 Pool Road and flooding took place in Birdcage Walk, Otley and Farnley Lane, Otley.

Now, the agency has come under fire for blaming the wrong type of water.

Councillor Graham Kirkland (Lib Dem, Otley and Wharfedale) has called for an urgent review of the whole flood warning system.

"The system has badly failed the people of Otley, Castley and Pool. It needs scrapping and another one put in place within the next seven days.

"People are not interested in whose water it is and who is responsible when their houses are being flooded.

"To blame the floods on the becks is like saying it's the wrong type of water - it's like the wrong kind of leaves on the railway argument."

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said rainfall had been unprecedented.

She said whereas rain normally fell in the upper catchment areas of Grassington and Addingham, this time it had fallen directly on Otley and Pool - where there are no trigger systems.

She added warnings were not issued following the flooding of becks, unless they had gone into main rivers.

The spokeswoman added the agency would now be reviewing its warning system and would be considering putting a trigger system at Otley.

"This has been an unprecedented event. We will be looking at lessons to be learned and will be reviewing our flood warning methods."