EYE witnesses described seeing blue lights just after midnight as firefighters worked to rescue a property from flooding.

Carlisle West Fire Station received the call at 10.45pm on Tuesday after rising water levels threatened the electrics at a home in the Court Yard in Moorhouse, a village to the west of the city.

A spokesman for the Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said the water, which was a number of inches deep, was pumped into a nearby field.

"We saw the blue lights and we assumed that it was someone who was not well so I cam down and saw the fire engine and firemen running around," described one of the neighbours of the affected property.

"The last time that happened there was an actual fire and they couldn't find the fire hydrant. We know where it is. We only found out then that we discovered that (it was in response to flooding). The firemen said they had been called out due to flooding at a property. That has happened before."

The neighbour also had a close call with floodwater several years ago.

"The closest we have come was we had some water going into the garage once, because a drain goes right along the garages and when it gets to a certain point, the water comes back up the drain and causes a huge puddle," she said.

"People have had problems with flooding across the road and it is since they put the new sewage system in.

"We never used to have a problem with it and it started backing up and flooding in the corner and the same thing with the water coming up from the drains at this end of the village. A lot of it is due to the water table here, it is really high. It doesn't take a great deal."

A number of flood alerts and flood warnings remained in force across Cumbria yesterday as Storm Christoph continued to wreak havoc in the county.

Flood warnings were in place for the River Eden, Rickerby Park, Swifts and Stoneyholme Golf Courses in Carlisle and at Keswick Campsite.

Flood alerts were in force for the Rivers Esk and Irthing, Lower River Eden, Rivers Caldew and Petteril, Rivers Wampool and Ellen, Rivers Cocker, Marron and Derwent and Upper River Derwent, Stonethwaite Beck and Derwentwater.