RESCUE workers from North Yorkshire were among those scrambled to the scene of the disastrous flooding in Cumbria.

Seven members of the Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team’s highly-trained swift water unit were called out at 9pm and rushed straight to Keswick.

They were tasked to evacuate houses and check on residents and, clad in full dry suits and with full equipment, spent almost five hours in the town going from door to door.

Among those they helped evacuate was a heavily pregnant woman who had gone into labour and they were able to get her to higher ground where an ambulance was waiting.

In the early hours of the morning the team was redeployed to Cockermouth where the true scale of the catastrophe was emerging.

But on arrival there they were re-routed to Workington after the town’s Northside bridge was washed away.

PC Bill Barker is believed to have been swept away as the bridge caved in and the rescue team immediately joined the search for him.

However their efforts proved fruitless and at 10am yesterday the team returned to their Richmond depot as others took on the search.

"Getting to Workington was a minor epic in itself as other bridges were also out," said team spokesman Paul Denning.

"But unfortunately the bridge concerned was only about 500 yards from the sea and the search proved very difficult."

The team’s swift water unit is one of the best trained and equipped in the country - as the Swale itself is one of the fastest-flowing rivers in the UK.