Tribute to Constable Bill Barker of Cumbria Police

Cumbrian police have confirmed that the body found on a beach on the county's west coast is that of 44-year-old Pc Bill Barker, who was swept away by torrential floods early this morning. Resisdents of the village of Cockermouth are seen being rescued from their homes by members of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the R.A.F Rescue Helicopters.

A man was rescued in Cockermouth in Cumbria after torrential rain caused rivers to burst their banks. Almost 15 inches of rain fell in 36 hours non-stop.

Cumbria Police chief constable Craig Mackey said: "It is with deep sadness that I can confirm that the body found on a beach at Allonby this afternoon is that of our friend and colleague Pc Bill Barker."

Father-of-four Pc Barker had worked for the force for 25 years as a traffic policeman and family liaison officer looking after bereaved families. Now, the day before they were due to celebrate his 45th birthday, his family are now mourning his loss.
"Pc Bill Barker, who has served the communities of Cumbria with the Constabulary for 25 years and currently works as a Roads Policing officer in Workington. He was directing motorists off the bridge, saving lives, when the tragic incident occurred," ACC Graham said.

"He is a valued colleague and friend of many officers and staff within the constabulary - and to those in West Cumbria where he lives and serves."

More than 250mm (9.8 inches) of rain fell in little over 24 hours in the area, causing the Rivers Derwent and Cocker to burst their banks.

Four bridges have now collapsed, main roads are blocked, schools are closed and more than 200 people have been forced to leave their homes in nearby Cockermouth overnight after the deluge struck.

PC Barker disappeared after Northside bridge, one of the main routes into Workington, collapsed in the early hours of this morning.

RNLI lifeboat operations manager Captain Brian Ashbridge said: "There is a massive current coming down through the Derwent so, although the sea isn't very rough, conditions for the RNLI volunteers searching in the river basin have been very challenging.

"It's absolutely horrendous. There is a huge amount of debris around in the water at the moment as well, which adds to the difficulties."

Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said the downpour may have resulted in "the wettest day ever recorded" in famously rainy Cumbria.

He claimed the resulting flood in worst-hit town Cockermouth was "a one in a thousand year" occurence which could not have been prevented by the town's flood defences.

Police and fire services, the RNLI and RAF staff worked throughout the night, using lifeboats and wading chest-deep in water to rescue residents trapped in their homes in Cockermouth, Workington and Keswick. One worker finishing his shift this morning described the scene as close to "armageddon".

In Cockermouth, a tourist attraction because it is the birthplace of William Wordsworth but also a historic flooding hotspot because it sits between the rivers Cocker and Derwent, around 1,000 properties were thought to have been flooded and 50 people had to be airlifted to safety by helicopter.

A lifeboat commander told The Times that firemen had to break into a bank on Main Street to rescue two women trapped inside by flood waters of up to eight feet.

"There was a massive torrent going past the front of the building and they were on the first floor behind barred windows, said Sarah Nimmo-Scott, deputy divisional commander in the RNLI.

"In the end we had to get the fire brigade to basically break into Barclays Bank and they we shipped them out."

Gwenda Davies said was staying at a friend's home and both were trapped in upstairs. She described a "raging torrent" around six feet high in the lane outside the house.

"The water is now up to the downstairs ceiling and I can hear the furniture downstairs knocking on the ceiling," she said by phone. "The River Cocker is apparently one of the fastest flowing in the country apparently and we certainly know it now."

Tony Cunningham, MP for Workington, suggested the flood was “of biblical proportions” to be able to take down the Northside Bridge.

“I went down to the bridge last night and I’ve never seen the River Derwent as wide as it was," he said. “The force of the river was absolutely incredible. This is a stone bridge, to wash away a bridge of that size and dimension is incredible.”

The Army has now been called out to help the civilian emergency services to rescue people still trapped in their homes and begin to clean up as the water levels abate.

Mr Benn, who is in Cockermouth, said the while flood defences there had been strengthened recently, they were only built to withstand a "one-in-100-years flood".

"What we dealt with last night was probably more like one-in-a-1,000, so even the very best defences, if you have such quantities of rain in such a short space of time, can be over-topped," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, contacted the chief constable of Cumbria Police to offer any Government assistance he needs.

"Our thoughts are with all those who have been impacted by these floods and our thanks go out to the emergency services who continue in their extraordinary efforts to help the people affected," he said.

Flooding has also been reported in Cork where the River Lee has burst its banks, and there were reports that a family of five including an 87-year-old woman had to be airlifted to safety from their home in the early hours of the morning.

Flooding was also reported in north-west Wales and in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, and the inclement weather caused widespread distruption on trains and roads around the country as well as at sea, where gale force seven winds raged.

The Environment Agency Floodline service has received more than 12,000 calls from members of the public over the last 48 hours and issued more than 43,000 flood alerts via phone, text, email and fax.

It currently has six severe flood warnings in place - all in Cumbria - 29 flood warnings, and 65 less serious flood watches.

Julian Mayes, a forecaster with MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association, said the rainfall in Cumbria was an "historical event".

Mr Mayes said the levels of rain were equivalent to five or six months of rainfall typically experienced over London and the south east of England.

"The fact that there's eight feet of water in some places is not that surprising," he said.

"Primarily, it's the sheer quantity in the last 36 hours that has caused the flooding.

"But in November the ground is saturated. The rain can't get into the soil, it just runs off.

"That means rivers rise very quickly and suddenly."