Streets of Matlock ‘a river’ after Storm Franklin flooding

The flooding was partly caused by runoff from nearby fields, says councillor

People were warned to steer clear of the area

Streets in Matlock, Derbyshire, were “a river” after heavy rains brought by Storm Franklin hit the town.

Matlock Town Council has urged people not to travel to the area as videos posted on social media showed streets flooded with more than a foot of water.

Posting footage on Twitter, Phil Gregory described the town centre as “a river”.

“It’s probably only a foot or two deep in truth, but enough to wreck businesses… it’s just really terrible and the rain is continuing,” the 48-year-old said in the video.

Mr Gregory, who is from the nearby village of Darley Dale and runs the local marketing agency Peak District SEO, criticised the government for not acting after severe floods hit the town in November 2019.

“My heart goes out to the business owners who are still recovering from lockdown measures and the previous flooding a couple of years ago,” he said.

“My message to the Government is: take action now, stop building on flood plains and help small businesses and homeowners in the long term with proper flood defences.”

David Hughes, district councillor for Matlock St Giles and town councillor for Matlock Green, said while the River Derwent burst its banks he believed the flooding was largely caused by runoff from nearby fields.

“It’s past the worst, the river level is going down,” the 69-year-old told the PA news agency.

“In Matlock itself, the flooding wasn’t caused to a great extent by the river, it was caused by surface water runoff from the hills.”

Asked whether the town was prepared for the flooding, Mr Hughes said: “I think in terms of emergency planning, yes, the emergency plan was put in place, and it worked.

“Saturday morning, we could see that there was potential for flooding, so we went around to every business on the low-lying roads in the centre of Matlock.

“We thought that they would be able to respond… one or two businesses didn’t respond, unfortunately.”

Matlock Town Council said in a statement posted to Facebook: “Between the water level, ferociously high winds, continued rain and road closures we urge people not to travel unless absolutely necessary, in particular, do not visit Matlock at the present time.”