KEIGHLEY was spared a second round of damage last weekend as Storm Dennis reached the region.

A tree brought down on Saturday evening by high winds in Silsden was among the few incidents in Keighley and surrounding areas.

Hainsworth Road, near the junction with Belton Road, was blocked for around an hour until the fallen tree could be removed.

Keighley Fire Station reported no incidents throughout Friday night and Saturday morning, and on Saturday night received only phone calls from members of the public asking for advice.

This was a far cry from the previous weekend when Storm Ciara caused damage locally, with roads and buildings flooded in villages such as Haworth, Silsden, Sutton and Oakworth.

The River Worth burst its banks in central Keighley, flooding the Morrisons filling station and affecting several businesses in Dalton Mills. Tenants at the mill prepared for a repeat last weekend, and the Environment Agency placed extra sandbags at a vulnerable opening between the river and mill yard.

Roger Henderson, who runs the Renaissance Motorcycle Workshops in the mill, was among those building flood gates and sandbags on Saturday morning.

Mr Henderson had suffered £30,000 worth of damage during the December 2015 floods, and in advance of Storm Ciara he moved his motorcycles to higher parts of the mill complex to keep them safe.

Flooding was several feet deep in some Dalton Mills units, such as the Deja Vu furniture store, but Mr Henderson said that during Storm CIara he suffered “inconvenience and trouble” rather than huge costs.

He said: “I can’t afford £30,000 every time it floods. I was up at 3am last weekend watching for river levels. The river came up a lot, but nowhere near as high as the weekend before.”

Mr Henderson blamed the Storm Ciara flooding on several issues affecting the River Worth, including housebuilding upstream, woodland clearance, inadequate flood defences, and a sandbank that has been allowed to build up over several decades as the river turns 90° around two sides of the mill.

He added: “The sandbank has trees growing. The water backs up and comes past the mill like a tsunami. There needs an excavator in the river to dig it out.”

A flood alert imposed for the River Worth catchment area for the period of Storm Dennis was lifted on Monday morning. The Environment Agency said river levels had peaked and “fallen below levels of concern”.

The council issued a press release outlining how its staff had been “hard at work” throughout last week helping people recover from the effects of Storm Ciara. Council leader Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe called on the Government to provide support for flooding victims at the hands of Storm Ciara.

People in Bradford affected by flooding from storms Ciara and Dennis are to get compensation from Bradford Council.

Letters to residents are being sent to confirm the details and to give them instructions in how to apply for a hardship grant.

The aim is to alleviate the hardship caused by the recent flooding by working with ‘Give Bradford and Leeds Community Foundation’.

By utilising some residual flood appeal funding from the Boxing Day Floods of 2015, the Council is topping this up and able to provide an immediate grant of £250 per flooded property.

To further ease the financial burden, householders who were badly affected are also being granted a three-month exemption from Council Tax.

Bradford Council leader Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe said: “I was extremely sorry to hear about people’s homes being flooded and understand the practical, financial and emotional impact that this will have on many families across the district.

“I appreciate that the impact and costs of the flooding to property may be significant but hope that this small grant can go some way to help in alleviating the hardships caused.

“It’s been a particularly stressful time for residents in Bingley, Ilkley, Keighley and Haworth but no part of the district been unaffected by the high water levels as roads and gardens became waterlogged.

“I’d like to thank all our Council staff, volunteers, other agency workers and the army for their help across the district this weekend.”