Flood villagers want reassurance

About 30 homes were damaged by the water and slurry

Residents of a Derbyshire village which was flooded when a lagoon at a quarry burst its banks want assurances that it will not happen again.

About 30 homes were damaged when water and slurry flooded into Stoney Middleton - people are worried there could be a repeat of the incident.

Glebe Mines, which operates the quarry, said the dams are inspected daily.

The incident is being investigated by the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive.

Larger dams

Glebe Mines said earlier that unprecedented high levels of rainfall led to a "sudden and totally unforeseen breach" on 22 January.

The firm also said it alerted the emergency services "at the earliest opportunity".

Michael Beeley, a resident, said: "I think everybody in the village is anxious to have some independent reassurance that the two much larger dams that rest up on the top are entirely secure because one of them is some six times larger than the one that broke."

Insurers have estimated the cost of cleaning up would probably run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Stoney Middleton school was closed all week and there were diversions around the village because the A623 was shut for safety reasons.