Emergency crews rescue drivers following deluge

Fire crews from Hawes were called out after a 40-year-old woman was trapped in her vehicle in Brunt Acres Road, Hawes, which was swamped by the prolonged heavy rain that affected much of the west of North Yorkshire on Tuesday evening.

The alarm was raised at 6.20pm, when North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service scrambled its specialist swift water rescue teams as well as regular crews from Hawes, Reeth and Leyburn.

They found the woman had climbed out of her vehicle and was crouched on a wall by the road. Firefighters in waders carried her to safety.

The rescue teams were called out again, shortly after 10.40pm when a man aged 50 was trapped in his car on the road between Airton and Winterburn.

The 999 crews pushed the vehicle to dry land while the motorist steered. But the car refused to start and he was left in the care of the police.

A fire service spokesman added: "There had been quite a lot of heavy rain over the west of the county and we had numerous flood watches and alerts in place."