THE heart of an East Cleveland community devastated by floods could be ripped out because a number of residents want to leave.

Skinningrove has been hit by severe flooding for the third time in three months, and some residents have said enough is enough.

The moves are likely to have a devastating effect on the close-knit community, where many extended families live.

Alison Sayers, 35, of Larvick Court, returned from the emergency centre at Rosecroft School, where she and her husband had been staying with their four children, to be told that both her sister and her mother-in-law plan to leave the village.

She said her 68-year-old widowed mother-in-law, Ciss, has lived in Skinningrove all her life but now planned to move to the nearby village of Brotton.

Mrs Sayers said: "She is going to miss us because she used to come for her dinner and she would come every evening for the company. My sister Paula is going as well because she says she can't do this anymore. They were both hit by the flooding last time.

"A number of other families are talking about leaving as well. My family life is not going to be the same."

Early assessments of flood damage in the village showed that 178 properties, including 58 council houses, had been affected by flooding. Some had suffered only minor damage but 28 families had to leave their homes. Redcar and Cleveland Council was carrying out house-to-house surveys.

A spokesman said: "We have indications that seven families wish to leave the village."