Cleveland Mountain Rescue tackle car trapped in flooded ford in North Yorkshire

A mountain rescue team from our region has tackled its fourth incident involving flooding and a vehicle in the space of a week.

Cleveland Mountain Rescue was contacted by North Yorkshire Police to provide safety cover while a car which had been washed off a ford near Glaisdale, to the west of Whitby, was secured. This followed concerns heavy rain heavy rain would wash the car further downstream potentially

A team of 12 as well as a Land Rover and water and flood rescue equipment was sent to the scene.

The car was secured to a nearby tree because the high water level meant that it was not possible to pull the car out of the river.

To do this the Team set up a high line, two members floated across on a rescue sled, passed a strop through the car and it was securely attached to the tree.

Full recovery can be carried out when water levels drop, making it possible to move the car.

This incident lasted about three-and-a-half hours as well as time to decontaminate the vehicle and equipment and additional travelling time to return home and to Base.

The team has advised everyone to please take note of concerns about the weather – heavy rainfall combined with some snowmelt across the hills is likely to lead to flooding in the next few days.

It has also reminded drivers to avoid crossing fords if the water level looks high and remains on standby in case it is needed to provide more help.