KEIGHLEY victims of last December's devastating floods fear their properties are as much at risk now as they were nine months ago.

Angry residents and business owners have hit out following the release of a damning Bradford Council scrutiny report, which warns its own response to severe floods in the district needs to "greatly improve".

Stockbridge residents this week said they feel "abandoned" by the authorities, with the owner of Bradford Road business Bump and Babes revealing his shop was partially flooded again this month, less than three weeks after re-opening.

The store was forced to close for eight months after being wrecked by the 2015 Boxing Day flood.

Owner, Francis Sathish, said he was distraught to find part of his shop flooded again following the completion of repairs costing thousands of pounds.

The latest incident saw water coming through the building's entrance and soaking new carpets during an intense but brief downpour.

"The main problem is that the drains have not been cleaned out, and until they are, this could keep happening," Mr Sathish said.

"If it does keep happening, what future do we have as a business?"

Mr Sathish said he and his colleagues had to fend for themselves last December.

He added: "I called the council and they said 'we can't do anything right now'. I went and bought sandbags myself from B&Q, but by that time, the water was inside and it was too late."

Sarfraz Qureshi, owner of Bradford Road business Autospot, said the council had done "absolutely nothing" to help when his shop flooded last December.

He said the blocked drains directly outside his premises have still not been fixed, despite his repeated complaints.

"The flooding is going to happen again," he said. "The council needs to sort the drains out. We've been saying this for years."

Adam Newton, centre manager of Halfords Autocentre, next to Bump and Babes, said his premises was under two-and-a-half-foot of water last Boxing Day.

"We didn't get any help from anyone," he added. "We phoned the council and all we got from them was that everyone was away on holiday. So we cracked on and cleaned things up ourselves."

Although Stockbridge was the worst affected area in Keighley, the floods also hit parts of Crossflatts, Riddlesden, Ingrow, Goose Eye, Silsden and Mill Hey in Haworth.

The ground floor of Shazad Ismail's Hallows Road home was flooded on Boxing Day.

Mr Ismail said: "The council should have done a lot more. There's many people in Stockbridge who feel they've been deserted."

He said the council had not been responsive to proposals to combine individual £5,000 household flood resilience grants to fund an overall scheme to protect the whole neighbourhood.

John Boulby, also of Hallows Road, said even though the flood barriers on the banks of the River Aire held, there is still no means of getting rid of excess surface water in this part of Stockbridge.

Mr Boulby said installing a large pump could solve the problem, but added the council had not been interested in combining individual flood resilience grants to pay for this.

Patrick Murray, of nearby Florist Street, said flood warnings last December had been issued very late. He said drainage gulleys and road surfaces must be repaired.

Keighley East ward councillor, Steve Pullen, said massive investment is required to upgrade infrastructure so it can cope with heavier rainfall.

"It's alright for the Government to give all this money to Leeds, but what about places like Keighley?" he added.

Bradford Council's flood review was published last week.

Its recommendations for improvements include extra communication training for council emergency planning staff, a request for the Environment Agency to circulate flood alerts earlier and the creation of a 'flood buddy' support system, where local people can help other residents.

The Keighley Emergency Response Team (KERT), a group of volunteers who banded together to support flooded homes and businesses last December, said it welcomed the review's findings.

A KERT spokesman said: "The initial response of the council to the sudden floods that struck Keighley and surroundings areas in December 2015 was, with some exceptions, slow, ineffectual and lacked team spirit.

"This was compounded by the fact it was still the holiday period, and many of those affected were unable to call the council or even companies such as insurance firms.

"However, we're pleased to note that shortcomings are being acknowledged and plans put in place to address any future flooding."

Keighley MP Kris Hopkins said: “There are clearly lessons to be learned from what was a very distressing time for residents and businesses.

"I was in regular contact with senior Government ministers throughout that period and significant resources were released to help those affected. Particular credit must go to those council employees who worked so hard on the ground during a prolonged period to help restore some element of normality."

Cllr Alex Ross-Shaw, the executive member for planning at Labour-led Bradford Council, said the authority had already been working on some of the issues highlighted.

He said: “I don’t think any of it is a surprise to us, in so much as a lot of officers and I attended information-gathering sessions and we have been speaking to residents outside of this process since the floods happened, so there is work going on in some of these areas.

“This report will help us make sure we keep the process going.”