Worried Doncaster residents tell how they are preparing for floods - and what they want to see improved

It was last night that residents received the red, yellow and white bags, which are now (Tuesday) lined up along gates and doorways across parts of Doncaster.

Households received the sandbags along with a letter of instructions for using them to create a flood wall, after Mayor Ros Jones declared a major incident in preparation for potential flooding over the next few days.

Some roads have already been closed, such as Fordstead Lane, a country lane which is often one of the first places to flood in Doncaster.

But those waiting anxiously behind the quickly assembled barricades do not want sandbags – it is better flood defences that they want to see delivered to their villages.

In 2019, parts of Bentley and Fishlake suffered widespread flooding. So too did some streets in other parts of the borough such as Conisbrough and Tickhill.

Today (Tuesday), many residents were putting their makeshift defences in place. The arrival of the sandbags has left people worried again. And many of those in Bentley, a former pit village, have been flooded twice, both in 2019 and 2007. Some also remember floods in the 60s, and it is said some even remember floods in the 30s.

Trevor Ogden, aged 70, had started trying to make his furniture safe at his home on Cromwell Road this morning.

He said: “I’ve put the settee on top of a table, down stairs. Last year we saw the conservatory flooded, as well as the front room.

"Today we’ve put the sandbags in place. We didn’t have them last time. I am worried."

On Ings Road, long standing resident Wendy Tomlinson had put a line of white sandbags in place in front of her gate and her fence at her terraced home.

She is worried, and now she has the sandbags in place, believes from what she has seen of floods in the past, they will not be enough to stop the water getting in.

But it is more protection than she was offered in November 2019, the last time she was flooded.

“No one came round with sandbags last time,” she said. “People just knocked on the doors.

"But they came when the road was already flooded. The other problem last time was lorries coming down the road, causing waves in the water which went over any obstacles.

"It washed it into the houses. I would help if they stopped lorries coming past early on, but last time they carried on as normal.

"They have done more than last year, but I don’t think the sandbag wall is high enough, remembering where it was last year. And it is what flows down from Sheffield that worries me.

"I’ve lived here 30 years. We flooded in 2019 and in 2007.

"I’m always worried about flooding. I’m insured through the council, but my sister had a hell of a job getting insurance. She had to get Ed Miliband on the case.”

Mum Hannah Booth, from Yarborough Terrace, said she was worried about what would happen, but the help had been better than it had in 2019. Yet she feared the sandbags would not stop the sort of flood that came in 2019.

"It will just go over the top,” she said. "It’s flood defences we need, not sandbags. We need to have defences like they’ve put in at Sheffield. It feels like we’ve been put second.

"We’ve only been back home since August. The water was a foot deep. That’s why I’m really worried. We’ve moved a lot upstairs, but there is only so much you can move. I’ve a solid oak table – you can't move that.

"We are insured, but we had to change companies after last time. We’re now with Flood Re, after we got Ed Miliband involved.

"I have just kept looking at the River Don and the locks. They said 6.30pm was high tide. I don’t like to think about it and I’ve been in a daze. If it’s going to come, you can’t stop it. We’ll have to get through as a community.”

Keen angler Kev Wingfield, of Yarborough Terrace, said he felt more prepared then he did in 2019.

He has moved things upstairs, and also taken things out of his shed and into the house. He said he forgot about his shed in 2019 and lost the contents to the flood.

“It’s still scary,” he said. “I’ve only just got the property back to normal from last time. There are some jobs that I’ve still not finished.

"We had a foot of water, but I didn’t move out because I was afraid of looters. We’re still not back to normal. I just had the kitchen flood laid, and it was due to be grouted this week.

"You walk round this estate and get lots of views. But some are still bitter that nothing’s been done. I think they need to concentrate on the banks of the Don."

He said he would like to see them diverting water to empty fields.

On Frank Road, one woman who would give her name only as Diane, said she had been reduced to tears last night by the flood alerts put out, and by distribution of the sandbags.

She said she had only just recorated part of the house, for Christmas.

She and other residents on Frank Road, who asked not to be named, said rather than giving out sandbags, the authorities should bank up the walls of the dyke which runs behind their homes, from where flood waters came in 2019.

One resident also called for flood recovery grants to be speeded up. She said she had waited six months and needed one to buy a flood door which she hoped would keep water out.

"We need something more permanent," she said.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.