FEARS that more than 300 households in a town may be blighted contaminated water have sparked calls for residents to seek help.

More than 1,000 people are believed to have been affected by the flash flooding which wreaked havoc in Millom at the end of September.

The volunteer-led community support group have again urged home and business owners to come forward to seek advice.

Jenny Brumby, one of the organisers of the support group, said: "Many households have had contaminated water in them and we need the people affected to come and tell us so we can help and advise them.

"Whatever the damage and wherever the water reached, whether it was in your garden, your garage or your house, we need to know."

Heavy rain on September 30 saw many streets in the town quickly struggle to cope with the downpour.

Mrs Brumby said: "This water could be sewage water and drain water and we can't guarantee what's in it.

"If it's contaminated, we need to know so we can advise people how to deal with it.

"We're still finding people all these days later. There's people out there who don't have social media and internet and we need to get the message out to everyone."

By registering, the group are able to build a database of affected areas and hope to prevent a repeat of the disaster.

Mrs Brumby said: "We can share this information with United Utilities so they are aware of which drains are affected and we can check on the welfare of people.

"We're able to provide information for the clean-up, what to do in the future and how to go about your insurance claims."

New base for community group

The group have been based in Millom Pensioner's Association's Tin Chapel base since the clean-up operation began, and will remain there until Friday. Volunteers from the group will be based at the Tin Chapel over the next week between 10am and 6pm.

Mrs Brumby said: "Our community should be very proud of themselves. "They've been checking on friends and neighbours since the flood.

"We will be there as a support group until the last person is back in their home.

"I'd also like to thank all our volunteers and helpers, some of whom have been working 12 hours each day."

From Monday, the group can be found at Millom Library six days a week, excluding Sundays, between 1pm and 5pm.