RESIDENTS devastated by flooding in 2015 are demanding answers from the Environment Agency about what is being done to protect their homes in the future.

More than 20 houses in Etterby Terrace and Eden Place, Carlisle, were ruined in the floods when Storm Desmond battered the county.

While work on flood defence schemes in the Warwick Road area and Rickerby are underway, there are concerns that the houses further down the Eden have been forgotten about.

During Storm Ciara in February, residents feared they might flood again as river water started coming through part of the existing flood defence - constructed after homes flooded there in 2005 - and almost overtopping it.

After being contacted by Alison Armstrong, who lives in Etterby Terrace, the EA deployed a pump, and worked through the night to prevent the water reaching people's homes.

Residents are due to meet with the EA tomorrow to express their concerns and get answers.

Mrs Armstrong has contacted the authorities numerous times calling for something to be done.

She said: “It’s as if we have been forgotten. We are just so angry.

“Because they are doing Warwick Road, the water has got to go somewhere and it is going to push it down here.

“It’s not just us that is going to flood next, it’s going to be across the road.”

When the alarm was raised in December 2015, Mrs Armstrong was in Edinburgh and couldn't get back because the trains weren’t running.

She lost more than just material possessions in the flood, she lost valuable photographs of her late sister and says the impact has been long-term.

“I more or less collapsed. I still really haven’t come to terms with it,” said Mrs Armstrong, who was displaced from her home for 10 months while repairs were carried out. “It has affected my health. Every time it rains and I get flood alerts I start to panic.

“I just want something done because I know for a fact I couldn’t go through another flood.

“It’s the fact that it has taken five years to get a meeting, it’s five years too long.”

The EA said it will continue to deploy pumps to the area and is due to refurbish the existing defences in the coming months. Long-term, the authority is assessing options to raise the defences.

It is also working with Cumbria County Council and United Utilities to investigate options of managing the added risk of water collecting on the wrong side of the defences, when the drains are unable to flow freely into the river Eden when it is in flood.

The EA added that it is listening to residents. A spokeswoman said: "We recognise that the local community is concerned about flooding and we are acting on the concerns raised by residents and are undertaking refurbishment works over this winter.

"We have also been discussing when to deploy the pumps with the residents and how we make these decisions more visible.

"Finally we will be engaging the community in the consideration of further options."