Storm Christoph: Weaverham residents 'shocked' as flood relief grant denied

Residents of a Cheshire village deluged by the recent Storm Christoph say they are "shocked" they will not receive relief grants for their damaged homes.

Weaverham and nearby Northwich suffered severe flooding in January for the second time in two years as heavy rainfall and snow swept across the UK.

But it has emerged homes in the area do not qualify for grants of up to £5,000.

A government spokeswoman said it had considered "severity, duration and impact".

Peter Higson's home was among the 31 houses affected in Weaverham and Acton Bridge.

Describing the ordeal, he said: "You just put things as high as you can. Put things on beds and piled them on there.

"But the water was higher than the level of the bed. Basically everything has been written off."

The government's Property Flood Resilience scheme offers grants used to make properties more resilient to future flooding, such as putting in flood doors and raising electrics.

Yet the River Weaver is not seen as an ongoing flood risk so Weaverham does not qualify.

Mr Higson was insured but said trying to flood-proof his home was costly.

While £5,000 would not cover everything, he said, it would "ease the pressure".

"It's the family photos, information about my Dad during the war. I lost some of that. They are irreplaceable," he said.

Jerry Marshall, who rescued Mr Higson by boat, said it was "shocking" the government did not consider the effects of Storm Christoph "bad enough".

He said it was a "slap in the face" for residents who had their lives "turned upside down" and were now spending "a shed load of money" on protecting their homes.

He said "serious steps" were needed to "mitigate the impact" of further flooding after two floods in the village in two years.

Homes and businesses in Northwich were also damaged, with dozens of pensioners at a retirement village rescued by firefighters after becoming stranded.

Labour's Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury said it was "highly unfair" those affected were being denied the grants.

"There is a precedence for this, in 2019, certainly in South Yorkshire, the threshold was 25 properties. By my count, in Cheshire West and Chester, there have been 150 properties affected by flooding," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it continued to "monitor the situation" and was "happy to consider council requests for financial support if needed".

Ministers decide whether to trigger financial support under the Flood Recovery Framework and considered "factors such as severity, duration and extent of the impacts".

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