'We're counting the cost of soul-destroying flood'

18 December 2025

News image — Farmer Jon Sharp says it is "unacceptable" to still have land under water two weeks after flooding in Leven, East Yorkshire

BBC A man with short grey hair and wearing a blue rain coat is standing in front of buildings and looking into the camera. In the background are flooded areas of land. — Farmer Jon Sharp says it is "unacceptable" to still have land under water two weeks after flooding in Leven, East Yorkshire

Paul MurphyEast Yorkshire and Lincolnshire climate and environment correspondent

Landowners and farmers are calling on the Environment Agency (EA) to provide better protection for their businesses as they count the cost of recent flooding.

Leven in East Yorkshire flooded on 1 December when dozens of homes narrowly avoided being inundated as water from Holderness Drain entered the village.

Farmer Jon Sharp, who is among those with land still affected more than two weeks on, said: "We put all our investment for next year's harvest into this land and to see it rotting under water is soul-destroying."

At the time, the EA confirmed there had been an "operational issue with the pumping station at Holderness Drain" but a spokesperson said it had now been resolved.

A man with a beard, glasses and white hair is looking into the camera. He is wearing a blue rain jacket. — Colin Hazell, co-owner of Hull Aero Club, has had to take matters into his own hands to help drain flood water

Although the floodwater has now receded from nearby streets, local landowners continue to be impacted.

Colin Hazell, co-owner of Hull Aero Club, said the EA had failed to pump away flood water despite the "obvious risk" to his business.

He said: "There are pumps that are either non-operational or not used and so we are given away to the water every single year."

To cope with the issue, he said the airfield had been using pumps in wheelbarrows as "improvised flood defences".

"It's costing us thousands of pounds every week as a business because we can't fly. It's critical that we get the situation resolved," he said.

The Environment Agency is now running pumps "24 hours a day", according to Mr Hazell, but he said it was "too little, too late".

"In the last 24 months, the club has lost over £170k of turnover due directly to flooding of this catchment," Mr Hazell added.

A flooded field with a fence in the foreground and an orange airfield wind sock in the distance — The runway at Leven Airfield near Beverley has been submerged for a fortnight

The farmland surrounding Leven is some of the lowest-lying in the region with parts of the area below sea level.

Farmers rely heavily on pumping stations but have had long-running concerns about the level of protection they receive from flooding.

In 2020, work started on a new pumping station for Holderness Drain, which was part of a £28m scheme to better protect the area.

Farmer Rob Byass, who has "thousands of acres of valuable farmland" under water, said the station "failed catastrophically" at the beginning of December and the EA had to take responsibility.

"We have had no explanation from the Environment Agency," he said.

"We don't know the reasons for this failure, but there has been a lot of flooding in Leven and a lot of farmland flooded.

"All the ditches and drains were already at high levels before the heavy rainfall of a few weeks ago. We wouldn't be in this situation if the water in them had pumped away."

A man wearing glasses and a green waxed cotton coat is looking into camera. There are buildings in the background — Farmer Rob Byass says better protection is needed for valuable farmland

The EA said the low-lying land in the River Hull and Holderness Drain catchment in East Yorkshire is heavily reliant on a system of artificially created drains and pumping stations and that these systems are operated by several organisations.

The spokesperson added: "We understand local farmers' concerns following exceptionally high rainfall in the River Hull area this November - a 278% increase on what we would expect to see at this time of year.

"We work closely with our partners, including the Internal Drainage Boards, to mitigate flood risk in these complex areas. This includes our £20m investment in the new Holderness Drain pumping station, demonstrating a firm commitment to protecting local communities."