PEOPLE hardest hit by floods that wreaked havoc in parts of Keighley last December continue to feel at risk.

Stockbridge was the worst affected part of town on Boxing Day last year, with properties in Riddlesden, Ingrow, Goose Eye and Dalton Lane also flooded.

Outside Keighley, the floods caused severe damage in the Mill Hey area of Haworth, as well as in parts of Silsden and Crossflatts.

Keighley East councillor, Doreen Lee, said blocked drains beneath the streets of Stockbridge had still not been addressed.

"The most important thing is for Yorkshire Water to get those drains mended," she added.

"Bradford Council has got its act together and got a chain of command set up so we shouldn't again have the situation we had last time when no one knew what to do.

"But the Government and the Environment Agency have a lot to answer for.

"People in Stockbridge have been offered their £5,000 to spend on each of their own homes. But the water that flooded their houses came up through the ground. So, however much Government money each household gets isn't going to stop that. Unless the drains are fixed, it'll happen again."

Bradford Road resident, Majid Khan, who saw his home's cellar flooded last December, said he and his neighbours have been left in the dark about what has been done to prevent future floods.

"We don't need to be given the emergency number to contact again," he said. "We don't need to be told what we already know. What we want to know is what has actually been done to stop this happening again?"

He said drains along Bradford Road are in such a bad state he and his neighbours had to try and unblock them themselves to prevent further flooding during a heavy downpour earlier this autumn.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: "After the devastating flooding, we've been continuing to work with the Environment Agency and Bradford Council to reduce flood risk in Keighley.

"We put CCTV down sewers in Stockbridge to check their condition and cleaned silt out left by flood waters.

"We experienced very high levels of rainfall last December. Our sewer network isn't designed to cope with exceptional conditions such as these.

"When river levels are high, surface water sewers cannot discharge and this backs up in the system.

"We want to reassure residents we're working with the other agencies to understand how surface water flows in Stockbridge by carrying out a surface water study into how the drainage system in this area interacts with the Rivers Aire and Worth.

"Once this is complete, we'll look into existing flooding mechanisms in the area and potential solutions to reduce flood risk in partnership with other agencies."

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "Our work in Keighley and Stockbridge during the past 12 months includes repairing or rebuilding sections of the wall along the Worth.

"On the Aire, we've repaired flood walls. We've also carried out rendering to the rear of some commercial premises to ensure they are watertight.

"We identified locations where large deposits of silt, mud and gravel – known as ‘shoals’ – have built up in the rivers.

"We removed shoals on the Aire and Worth and near Florist Street.

"In November, we completed work on the Aire at Westlea Avenue, which involved removing a tree and an island of shoal."