Farmer fears future after floods

The Thompson family have lived in the village for 100 years

A North Yorkshire butcher believes flash floods could spell the end of his business after a flock of his sheep was swept away during the freak downpours.

Brian Thompson, a farmer and butcher from Helmsley, said about 300 of his sheep were swept away.

His family has owned a shop on Bridge Street on a nearby house for 100 years, but Mr Thompson said he was now worried about the future.

"It is going to be very difficult to get things back to normal," he said.

'Right mess'

Mr Thompson said: "We've lost a lot of sheep. Basically the river came up and washed them away.

"It take a lot of hardwork into having livestock and this is going to take a while to recover from."

John Windress, who works at the shop closest to the River Rye, said he did not even know where to start the cleaning up process.

"The house is a waste of time. I've just been in there to have a look for my boss and it's a right mess.

"I don't think we'll be opening the shop for a while, but we've got a cutting shop, that I don't think was affected as badly so hopefully we will be ok.

"We're going to make some phone calls and see what we can sort out."

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