The fire service said it had made a concerted rescue effort

Mike Barnett, 28, became stuck in neck-high water in a drain in Hessle, near Hull, on 25 June.

He is understood to have died from hypothermia after a desperate four-hour rescue operation failed to free him.

Mr Barnett's family said fire crews did not do enough to save him. Fire chiefs said they made a "concerted" effort.

On Thursday, Mr Barnett's father, also called Mike, said the emergency services were "virtually arguing" about what to do.

He told Sky News: "They could've pulled him out and even if it had broken his leg or pulled his foot off, at least he'd be alive.

They didn't have a clue how to get him out Geoffrey Claxton, father of victim's employer

"But they just left him to die."

Mr Barnett Snr was talking after agreeing to dramatic footage of the failed rescue bid being screened.

At the beginning of the crisis one neighbour dived down several times to try to free Mr Barnett but without success.

Firefighters then attempted to cut the grate, which was actually a piece of fencing material put in place after the original grille was damaged in previous flooding.

It is thought Mr Barnett got his foot trapped in the makeshift metal grille as he tried to clear some debris.

'Concerted' effort

Last week, Geoffrey Claxton, whose son, Andrew, runs Kingston Koi Company where Mr Barnett worked, also expressed concern at how the emergency services reacted to the rescue.

He said: "It was quite a while before the firemen came. He was getting weaker and weaker. They didn't have a clue how to get him out.

"All they needed was a chain and a Land Rover and that would have pulled him out."

Mr Claxton described how he had gone into the water first to try to clear the drain but Mr Barnett had told him to get out and went in himself.

Glenn Ramsden, from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, declined to "speculate" on the rescue, adding: "We made a concerted rescue operation. It was very concerted with the resources available."