Whaley Bridge flooding: Boris Johnson visits evacuated villagers amid fears dam has ’50-50’ chance of collapse

The Toddbrook "has a history of leakage", according to a 2011 Environment Agency report on national dam incidents,

The report, which catalogued scores of incidents across the country, said that there were complaints about leakage into mine workings from the reservoir from 1880.

It said the 75m (246ft) long concrete weir was built over the dam wall in 1969 as a response to the 1964 incident when damage was caused to the original slipway channel during heavy rain. This original channel was deemed inadequate.

 A Whaley Bridge resident took this dramatic video of the dam on Wednesday night following heavy storms. 

Eric Baker, who has lived in the town for 30 years, told the BBC: "It's shocking really, it's like living next to a ticking bomb. If that goes the devastation will be unimaginable.

"We saw the water coming over at a tremendous rate on Wednesday and the park was flooded but it wasn't until Thursday the people who look after it started to look worried.

"Then it started to collapse on Thursday and it made a tremendous noise as the concrete slabs began to collapse.

"The disruption is huge, the small shops and businesses are really being hit and of course we don't know when it will be over"

Theresa Villiers, the environment secretary, said: "This morning I am receiving regular updates from the ground on the situation in Whaley Bridge and the fast action being taken by the police and other agencies.

"Later today I will chair a meeting of the Government's emergency COBR committee to make sure everything possible is being done to draw down water levels, fix damage to the dam and protect homes and businesses.

"My thoughts are with those who have had to leave their homes and I would like to thank all emergency services, military personnel and all others for their continued hard work."

Firefighters are continuing to work tirelessly to remove water from the reservoir but expect the emergency operation to continue for at least two days, the National Fire Chief Council has said.

 “Ten High Volume Pumps (HVPs) have been deployed overnight pumping water to assist in reducing water levels,” it said in a statement.

“The HVPs have been pumping water from the reservoir to other locations to reduce the pressure on the reservoir wall, in an attempt to reduce the impact on the local community.”

“HVPs have the capacity to move up to 7,000 litres of water per minute currently the 10 pumps which are deployed are pumping in the region of 4.2 million litres of water per hour. It is currently anticipated that the incident will run for at least 2 to 3 days.”

A local councillor has told LBC that there is a “50/50 chance“ the dam could fail.

David Lomax said he feared it would cause “an awful lot of damage” to Whaley Bridge.

“Certainly if the dam goes it will cause tremendous damage to the town, the main shopping area, the main street, the old houses are all underneath the dam,” he said. 

“So if the water does go, it’s going to, well I wouldn’t say wipe out the town – but certainly cause a lot of damage. In terms of how reliable the information is we’re getting, I’m not sure.

"We’re still told it’s probably a 50/50 chance.” 

The vast majority of people who were evacuated from Whaley Bridge have found their own accommodation with family and friends, a council spokesperson has said.

Julie Odams, the assistant director of communications at Derbyshire County Council, said a small number of people were staying in hotels in the Buxton area.

She said nobody needed to sleep overnight at the rest centre set up at the high school in Chapel-en-le-Frith, a few miles from Whaley Bridge.

"The evacuation generally was very, very smooth but it was disruptive for people and the time for leaving wasn't great so people weren't able to collect everything they wanted to," Ms Odams said.

"We've not had anybody who's been very distressed or anything like that. The evacuation has been very orderly."

Our North of England correspondent, Colin Drury, has this report on the residents who fear their homes will disappear if the dam collapses:

Engineers have demolished a wall on neighbouring land to bring in more pumps to reduce the water level at Toddbrook Reservoir, ITV Granada reports. 

Meanwhile nine miles away, Stockport has been hit by heavy flooding which saw several streets in the town submerged underwater.

Stockport Council said they had pumped more than 800,000 litres of water from the A555 on Wednesday.

But some residents say that the council’s efforts to clear the water has led to flooding elsewhere.

In a comment under a council Facebook post, one person wrote: “Surely just pumping it into local brooks and streams will only cause problems downstream.”

Another added: “No point in draining it for the power of nature to chuck it down again....on a brand new road.”“Meanwhile, local residents have trouble keeping their homes dry and some disabled people are stuck in their homes without any knowledge of what to do!”

In response, the council commented: “Regarding questions about where the water is being pumped to, our Highways Engineers have assured us that the water is being pumped to a location that is not contributing - or has resulted in - any localised flooding in residential areas that you may have seen or experiencing. Thank you.”

People have shared their admiration for the emergency effort to shore up the damaged wall of Toddbrook Reservoir, which contains around 1.3m tonnes of water.