Thanks you for reporting the effects of the November floods around Burton and Holme (Gazette, November 30, 'Flood waters wreak havoc across county').

It did, however, omit part of my comments about the flooding at North Road in the centre of Holme village, where about a dozen homes were affected.

Now, as a result of official investigations, reports from residents and also by the general public at the parish council a thorough appraisal is being compiled of the causes and possible ways of alleviating flooding in vulnerable areas.

Locally these will include the recording and cleaning out or replacement of culverts and drains, the repair water course bankings and the dredging of becks including Farleton Beck where work necessary after Storm Desmond in 2015 had hardly been started.

I also hope that need will be recognised for more detailed and accurate forecasting. I accept that, as in any other natural disaster, it is difficult to pinpoint the most at risk area; floods, like lightning, might not strike with the same impact in the same place twice.

Even so, it was ironic that dire predictions led to a full-scale alert in Kendal, which we all rejoice was spared a full repeat of Desmond, while six miles down the road only ‘some possible flooding’ was forecast.

Yet, here, a farm house was flooded to the depth of four feet, neighbouring business premises were inundated, the A6070 was blocked even for emergency vehicles and hundreds of acres were submerged including fields which I, as a native of the area, had never seen awash before.

Hopefully many lessons will be learned and acted on.

Cllr Roger Bingham

Ackenthwaite