Hall Park View residents in Workington live in fear their homes will flood again.

Paul Douglas, 43, and partner Nichola Kelly, 42, were forced out last December.

On the afternoon Storm Desmond hit the town, Paul rushed home from work to put the flood gates up.

He said: “I went back to work and then I was home again at about 4pm. That’s when the river banks burst. The water was up to the back door.

“Family and friends had already been round and moved what they could upstairs.

“We had only just put up our Christmas tree for our nieces. The whole down stairs was ruined, the walls and everything.

“We had to live at Nichola’s parents for two months but now we’ve more or less repaired everything.”

Paul said he now lives in fear that it could happen again.

He said: “You have to check the river daily to see if you can go away for the day and your life evolves around the river.

“We’re gutted that nothing’s been done. We were promised sandbags which haven’t arrived and we were promised the rivers would be cleared. It makes me feel like we’re not important.”

The couple applied for a flood recovery grant from Allerdale and are waiting to know if they are eligible. But Paul thinks a grant should have been put in place for the entire street, which flooded in 2009 and last December, rather than for each property.

He said: “That way we’d all get something. The issue is also that some companies speculate on it and you get a quote for £10,000 and another for half the price for the same job, it’s disgusting.”

Deborah Heslop, 52, who also lives on the street with husband David, 51, were forced to live upstairs for three months following the floods, but they have managed to restore most of their house.

Deborah said: “I’m still dreading it in case in comes back. Every time we have a lot of rain we panic still. Everybody we talk to says it will happen again. Fingers crossed that it won’t.”

While villagers in Seaton are being encouraged to apply for a flood recovery grant following last year’s storms.

Celia Tibble, who represents the village on the county, district and parish council, says many people didn’t report the flooding they suffered when the area was hit by flash floods.

She said: “Allerdale council has extended the time people can apply for a grant, and it’s very important anyone who was affected gets in touch to see if they are eligible.”