Highland cattle seen wading through water at flooded East Yorkshire farm

• Weeks of rain have left much of East Yorkshire submerged, as Michael Billington reports

Cattle on a farm in East Yorkshire have been seen wading through deep water after weeks of persistent rain left around 150 acres of fields flooded.

The Highland cattle at Dumble Farm near Beverley had been moved to higher ground after the River Hull burst its banks.

But farmer Fiona Wilson said the fields had been left impassable, forcing them to retrieve the herd as grazing land became submerged.

She said: "We must have over 150 acres underwater and most of the Hull valley is looking like this now.

"It's way above record levels. We had to bring our cattle back because we were unable to get our loader down the track to feed them."

Flooding has been seen across East Yorkshire, including at the Greengrass Park caravan site in Driffield, which had to be evacuated before Christmas.

Owner Emma Barker said: "Nothing was stopping the rate that the water was coming in because it was so vast, it found a break in our bund wall, in our flood defences. It's waist high at the majority of the areas.

"I've cried too much. I don't want to add any more water to what's already on the floor.

"We're about to lose everything."

Carl Joyce, one of the site's residents, has been back to try to help with the clean up.

He said: "The shed is bobbing about with the fridge, The boat is ready to sink and go under. The septic tanks have all blown. There's a lot of people on here who won't come back to it if the insurance doesn't cover it."

Fiona Wilson is among a number of farmers who believe inadequate drainage has contributed to the problem.

"We think more could be done with drainage because it didn't used to be as bad as this," she said.

But the Environment Agency says

EA: We consider dredging as part of our work to protect people from the devastating impact of flooding. However, recent studies have shown that the benefits of dredging along the River Hull are limited."

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