ANGRY villagers have threatened to sue their county council for negligence following the recent floods.

Flood victims from Brompton, near Northallerton, told the parish council that they felt they had been abandoned when floods devastated their school and left many houses under water.

Dr John Gibbins, who lives at Water End, said so many people had attended last week's meeting that they were standing on the stairs.

"There was a lot of strong feeling that we were abandoned and left to our own fate without any support from anybody," he said. "We feel that on the night we got no help whatsoever from the emergency services, and since then we have been effectively under-resourced."

He said traffic going to Darlington had been redirected through the village from Northallerton, which had added to problems.

However, he praised the parish council for allowing everyone there to speak. The fire brigade was also praised for its help the following day in pumping out houses.

It was unanimously agreed that the reason the village had flooded was because Bow Bridge, on Station Road, acted like a dam.

"That bridge takes ten cubic metres of water and the bridge above it takes 13. As a result, when the water reaches the top of the bridge it becomes a dam," said Dr Gibbins.

He said a report by the River Wiske drainage board, published after floods in 1979, recommended the bridge be replaced with a bigger one to ease the flow. However, this work had never been carried out.

"The total cost of the damage to the school and sending children to another school must amount to at least £100,000, which is a lot of money. This will happen again if the bridge isn't removed and a larger one put in its place," said Dr Gibbins.

He said that if the work had been carried out, the village would not have been flooded.

A special meeting has now been called by the parish council on Monday, December 18, 7pm. Mr William Hague MP, members of North Yorkshire County Council, Hambleton District Council, the emergency services and other relevant bodies have been asked to attend to answer villagers' questions.

Dr Gibbins said the villagers wanted the county council to build a new bridge and a dam up-stream to store the water to prevent the situation happening again.

He said: "The people of Brompton are prepared to give the county council and the River Wiske drainage board six months to come up with a plan and budget to do these two things.

"If they do not, a court case will be brought against the county council for damages arising from their negligence in defending the village from floods as recommended."

Mr Mike Moore, director of environmental services at the county council, confirmed the council had been invited to the special meeting.

He said: "We are certainly trying to work with local people to resolve issues and to understand what the problems were and whether they could have been prevented."

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