Residents reel from flood No.5

George Street was rendered inaccessible yesterday as council workers pumped away more than 3ft of water from the street.

For householders at the bottom end of the cul-de-sac the only way into their houses was through the back door.

Dee Cadman, well used to the havoc, had rolled her carpets up so they would not be ruined again.

This time she was more fortunate than the last - the water only flooded her cellar. On the ground floor, it crept up towards the top of her front doorstop, which was barricaded with sandbags.

"I have got used to it," said the 58-year-old. "The river banks overflow and it's all downhill to here. And I'm on the wrong side of the camber of the road, so I get the brunt of it.

"I lost all my carpets, my vacuum cleaner, my video and many other things the time before last. It was a good 8in in my front room then."

Across the road. neighbours Pauline and Barry Lindsay also had a flooded cellar, although the ground floor escaped damage. "We have lived here 17 years and had only flooded about three times but it's been five times this year. It proves something has gone wrong somewhere and we want the council to sort it out."

Both houses are owned by Bradford and Northern Housing Association.

Residents in Thwaites Road and Wordsworth Close, who have been flooded several times in the last two years, escaped yesterday's deluge.

David Barrow, customer services director for Bradford and Northern Housing Association, said: "As I understand it, ia street drain is causing the flooding.

" We are very sorry to learn of the problem but if it's a street drain it's not something within our responsibility. But we will certainly be in contact with the council to see what can be done about it."

Drains also caused the problems in many parts of East Lancashire, with minor flooding in streets around Hope Street and Montague Street close to Blackburn town centre.

Livesey Branch Road was also affected.