Thirty-one people, including two children, rescued by fire crews from Billing Aquadrome

Thirty-one people, including two children, have been rescued from Billing Aquadrome by fire crews today after severe flooding on the site.

In a statement issued this evening, Northamptonshire Local Resilience Forum agencies said they had continued to work together to the emergency.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service crews from Corby, Wellingborough and Mereway have been at the scene all day to rescue the remaining residents from the site. Crews have used specialist water rescue equipment and vehicles including boats and rescue sleds to take people to safety.

A spokesperson for the fire service said: “Twenty-nine adults and two children, along with a number of pets have been evacuated today as part of the rescue operations. Crews are continuing to carry out a systematic search of the 1,750 static homes. They have made contact with and evacuated everyone who wanted to leave, however, a small number of residents have chosen to remain in their properties.

“Due to the scale of the incident additional resources were requested from neighbouring fire services who provided two additional boats. This enabled Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service to continue responding to the flooding at Billing Aquadrome whilst also attending other incidents around the county.

“Also supporting the response were Northamptonshire Police and the other LRF partner agencies, as well as volunteers from Northamptonshire Search and Rescue.”

The spokesperson said the service expected that the operation at Billing Aquadrome would be scaled down in the next few hours.

The response to the wider flooding continues as LRF partners work to support the safety and welfare of vulnerable people affected by the flooding across the county.