MP visits residents on flooded estate to answer questions - in the aftermath of the Storm Babet

The MP visited homes on Windemere Road which had flooded after Smithy Brook burst its banks.

Mr Rowley offered his sympathy to those affected, before responding to questions from residents.

Residents were keen to ask what actions he will be taking to help with the current situation, as well as what will be done to prevent Windemere Road from flooding again in future.

Mr Rowley said: “Our immediate next steps are; we need to make sure anybody who has not got somewhere to stay finds accommodation. We also need to make sure everybody is talking with their insurers, and that the insurers are being supportive. We’ve heard stories today about insurers being closed over the weekend so we need to offer help to people if they need it. In the short term, although I don’t think there is anymore heavy rain forecasted, we also need to take steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We’ve got to stand back and try and encourage the councils to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future.”

Mr Rowley also stated that he had been in regular contact with both the district and county councils over the weekend and would be getting back in touch with them after leaving the estate.

He said: “I will do what I can to try and help. There’s been a lot of challenges across North East Derbyshire in the past 48 hours, but once we take time to get houses back to where they need to be, we need to stand back and look at where there are particular problems, here in Clay Cross and in Renishaw, to see what we can do to mitigate the problems.”

Mr Rowley was in London, attending parliament, when the flooding began on Friday and was unable to return to the constituency to visit affected areas due to cancelled trains.

He is set to return to the estate on Saturday, to offer updates to residents and answer any further questions.