Evening Press Leader

People whose homes were flooded after the River Derwent burst its banks so spectacularly last year only have themselves to blame. Or so the Environment Agency now appears to be saying.

Tom Collier, chairman of the agency's Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee, said yesterday: "It is the responsibility of the public to take positive action to prepare themselves for flooding."

And there we all were thinking that it was the agency's responsibility to prevent flooding.

In the light of Mr Collier's comments, we turn to the Bible for a parallel. Perhaps everyone living near the Derwent might consider building an ark in their gardens.

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