Communities put on flash floods alert

The Environment Agency has identified Marsden and other communities along the River Colne, including Slaithwaite, Golcar, Kirkheaton and Huddersfield, as being vulnerable to flash flooding.

Flash floods can happen with little or no warning. At their most powerful, they can move rocks, tear out trees, sweep away vehicles and destroy buildings

The Environment Agency has now joined up with other emergency teams to raise awareness of the issue with an event outside the library in Marsden on August 20, from 10am to 4pm, and people are invited to come along.

Environment Agency flood incident management officer Claire Fyfe said: "Flash floods, such as those that affected Boscastle in Cornwall and Helmsley in North Yorkshire, often occur in places where there have been none in living memory. The fact that there has been little or no flash flooding in the Colne Valley in recent years is no guarantee that it won't happen to communities one day."

More information is available at the Environment Agency's website at www.environment-agency.gov.uk