Last updated 20:06, Friday, 05 September 2008

Flash floods trapped children – some as young as two – inside a nursery school as heavy rain and lightning hit west Cumbria.

• Slideshow: more flood pictures

Firemen help out at the scene

Firefighters had to dig away massive amounts of silt washed up by heavy rain that was blocking the door of Beckermet Nursery before helping carry 20 youngsters to safety yesterday.

Nursery staff say the water “came out of nowhere” following heavy rainfall that quickly washed up to eight inches of water into their new £175,000 building, which they moved into on Monday.

And the flooding in Beckermet, which also damaged houses at the Mill Field, was not the area’s only weather emergency yesterday.

The chimney of the former station building at Drigg Station – now a craft shop – was struck by lightening, starting a small fire.

A clean-up operation is now underway at the nursery, on Sellafield Road, with the charity that runs it assessing the damage.

Committee member Steve Malpas, whose four-year-old daughter Kiera was one of the children trapped inside, said rain started falling at about 11.30am and quickly turned torrential.

He said: “It was like a monsoon. There were flash floods. The water came down across the road. It washed our car park out.

“There was six to eight inches of water in the new building. It has taken us five years to get that building. We’re a charity. We’ve spent all our money doing this.

“About three tonnes of silt was up against the front door – nobody could get out. Firefighters had to come and dig to get to the front door.”

Mr Malpas said the children inside were fine despite the emergency, only realising what happened as they were carried out.

“The staff did a fantastic job keeping the situation calm,” he added.

Firefighters from Egremont, Whitehaven and Seascale dealt with the flooding, pumping water from flooded properties at the Mill Field into the nearby river.

Station Manager Joe Little said they had to priorities the risk because water was flooding into homes – with most of it running towards the nursery.

Firefighters told staff to keep the doors shut until water levels had dropped.

Mr Little added: “We asked them to stay in the building because if they opened the doors they could have had water running right through the building. It was up to two-foot at the bottom. If people were coming for their children firecrews were taking them out to the parents.”

In Thornhill, two houses flooded and fire crews from Egremont, with help from police, pumped water onto the disused railway line.

Meanwhile, a woman was praised by firefighters for her quick reaction after lightening struck her craft shop at Drigg Station.

Crews from Bootle and Frizington were called to deal with a fire at about 12.20pm yesterday, but it was out when they arrived.

Group Manager Dave Edgar said the lightening bolt had struck the chimney, gone down its lining and arced on a gas pipe at the bottom, starting a small fire.

He added: “The lady in the shop had a fire extinguisher and put the fire out herself, otherwise it could have been quite severe.

“We can only praise her quick-thinking.”

The Met Office predicted that more heavy rain could fall in Cumbria today and continuing into tomorrow, although getting lighter and more intermittent.

But a spokesman said: “Fortunately the orientation of the weather system bringing the rain means it will reach Cumbria on an east or northeasterly wind.

“This is good news for much of the county because it allows the north Pennines to filter out much of the heavier rain.

“Although we could, over the period, see appreciable rainfall totals, the wettest parts of the county look like being in the south and east with least rain towards the west and northwest.”