Why weren't we warned?

Three homes and a block of flats on Denton Road and Gilstead Way had to be evacuated as water levels rose dramatically on Monday night.

But people living close to the river who should have been on flood alert say the warning phone calls came either hours after water began surging into their properties or not at all.

John Martinez, 63, who lives on Denton Road said his wife felt uncomfortable when she looked out of the window before they went to bed.

"But I told her, 'If there was a flood warning we would have been told'."

By 1.30am the couple realised there was a serious problem and Mr Martinez dashed to his car and alerted neighbours.

"By that time the river was coming through here. I have never seen it so fast and I have lived here for 16 years. It was a torrent."

"I rang the environment agency at 2am and lost my temper. By 2.30am I couldn't get out of the house."

Mr Martinez, who also made a 999 call, said he finally received a flood warning at 4.30am.

He said emergency services eventually turned up but not before an elderly neighbour's house was flooded.

"It was a force of nature which couldn't be planned for - I accept that. My only complaint is that there was not a trigger for Ilkley."

Yesterday Mr Martinez's garden was completely submerged in water and a pond containing valuable fish was destroyed.

Alison Garford, 37, also of Denton Road, said Mr Martinez alerted her family to the danger.

"At no point was there any indication from the environment agency that there was a problem," she said. "But the water just flowed up our drive. It was spectacular to see."

Luckily only the family's garden was flooded.

"I think what's happened is that the environment agency was so tied up reacting to actual events that in terms of warnings, that was the least of their worries."

She added that liaison between the agency and the emergency services was inadequate.

"You would assume there would have been a liaison but that didn't seem to have been in place. They don't seem to have grasped the problem but everyone living round here was waiting for it to happen," she said.

A resident of Gilstead Way - who did not wish to be named - said the way the problem was dealt with was a 'shambles'.

"We were told at ten minutes to three about the danger of flooding," he said. "At which point we had water in our garage."

He said he already called the agency four times and had been told that the system had collapsed. He claimed sandbags did not arrive until 3am.

"Last time we had a problem we had somebody from the agency around," he said. "This time I'm bloody angry. We are still in limbo. If we get another situation we don't know if the phone will ring or not."

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said there was a problem with the warning system for Ilkley.

"The river levels have to reach a certain trigger level for us to issue a warning," she said. None of the trigger levels for Ilkley, which are based at Grassington, were reached on Monday night. The river started to rise and we issued warnings for Ilkley."

The spokesman said phone calls to residents began at 2.45am. But the flooding of one bungalow began 45 minutes earlier.

Liz Hunter, whose 77-year-old mother's living room floor was under nine inches of water at the worst of the flooding, said: "It's come right up inside the garage, and the car is probably ruined."

She said the flood water came into the house at about 2am on Tuesday, and firefighters arrived shortly afterwards to pump out the muddy water, which was also said to contain sewage.

They worked until around 11am. Occupants of some of the houses are now staying with relatives.

A spokesman for Ilkley police said they were called out at about 1am on Tuesday morning by residents. "The river had burst its banks. We then contacted the council to do some sandbagging," he said.

Nearby, Ilkley Lido outdoor pool also filled up with river water, and at the height of the flooding, the football and cricket fields were under several feet of water.

Ilkley Tennis Club, on Stourton Road, had already braced itself for a washout when water began pouring into the indoor courts.

on Monday evening. "We closed the club at 8.30pm and got people out," said general manager Billy Kerr. "We know when the river is going to flood and we keep an eye on it.

"The tennis courts were totally under water but we didn't really need the emergency services as we had flooding in June so knew what to do."

Mr Kerr said the clubhouse was cut off for about 12 hours.

Staff eventually got inside on Tuesday morning and began the arduous task of clearing the courts.

In Addingham the story was much the same with sandbags being delivered to Bolton Road after flooding and many businesses on Main Street facing difficulties.

The British Legion club on Main Street lost 18 gallons of beer in its third flood of the year. "We had three foot of water on Monday night," said steward Bob Roe. "People were in with waders on."

The floods also meant major headaches for people travelling to and from Ilkley and Addingham with all rail services suspended and the A65 out of Ilkley closed for most of Monday and Tuesday and likely to be closed again on Wednesday.

Police were urging drivers to take care on Addingham bypass where there were drainage problems. They also said there were problems on the moor road due to the heavy volume of traffic.

Today many homes and businesses were still in danger after four days of appalling weather conditions.

As the Gazette went to press the flood warning for Denton Road was still in force as Ilkley braced itself for worse to come.

The A660 from Burley-in-Wharfedale to Otley was closed yesterday afternoon. As the Gazette went to press the A65 out of Ilkley was still open - but police were urging drivers to take care. Cars travelling over the moor road should also beware - localised stream problems near the Hermit pub mean there could be delays.

l Floods round-up - Page 4