IMAGES: Pateley Bridge suffers as floods hit district

The road from Pateley to Updale was closed and the recreation park and the Nidderdale Showground were covered with water.

One resident spent his boxing day at Low Wath Road offering help to those worst affected, where one elderly woman had to be rescued from her home.

Brian Hicks said: “I was there for two hours, the fire brigade asked me to put my car across Low Wath Road to stop traffic coming cross the road so they could put their pump into action.

“They were pumping water from the houses into the recreation centre opposite but as fast as they pumped it into the recreation ground it was still coming up through the drains and into the ground.

“I suppose like many other people we were very concerned for people who were in that position, it was all of northern England at that time so you were just grateful it wasn’t happening to you.”

Kevin Wilson, Owner of Park View Stores Bakery was also grateful for the help of the fire brigade, which he said came in just enough time to save the business.

He said: “Fortunately we just managed to keep the floods at bay and keep everything up and out of the way, the fire brigade just came round in time and pumped a lot of water out.

“We had some pumps of our own running we just literally managed to keep it at bay.

“It was at the point where if it did rain any more we would have been really badly hit, so we have got away very lightly to be honest.”

But other businesses were not so lucky...

The Royal Oak pub sits next to Pateley’s infamous Greenhow Hill, where the already saturated ground forced excess water up through the pub floor.

Landlord Robert Jackson said: “We have taken the carpet up and just kept mopping and mopping and mopping. The local community has been great, there’s been lots of people coming to see if they can help.

“We are part open at the moment. There is two areas to the pub, two thirds of it has been affected so we are just serving beer in the smaller area, we have had to stop serving food.”

But despite the compromising situation, Robert is hopeful that the business can still bring some joy back to the community as people see in the New Year.

He said: “What we are going to do is hose it and clean the concrete floor and open on New Year’s Eve and hopefully people that come in will still have a dance on the concrete floor.

“We shall still keep a stiff upper lip and do what we can and hopefully we will still have a good night.

“I was very upset over the last couple of days but I appreciate we have to move forward and just get back trading again as soon as possible and look to the future. I’m trying to be upbeat about it.”