WORRIED home-owners who fell victim to devastating flooding last year have slammed providers after claiming to be denied insurance.

Millom and Haverigg residents continue to pick up the pieces after torrential rain wreaked havoc last September.

Speaking at the presentation of the Millom and Haverigg Flood Investigation Report on Tuesday night, a number of residents claimed a failure to learn lessons from previous floods meant the problems were widespread and devastating.

Joan Newton, of Mainsgate Road, said: "We have had no answers and this does not tell us anything.

"I have got big problems because my home was flooded and I have not been able to get insurance to cover me in the future now.

"My home was flooded back in 2013 and it was because of the same problems. I told them then that there was a blockage in the sewers and drains and they did not do anything about it until after last year's floods.

"If the maintenance had been done then you do not have the problems with the gullies and the collapsed drains left, right and centre in Millom, and not as many houses would have flooded. I am sure of that."

The calls were echoed by fellow Millom resident Howard Shimmin who told the meeting of his insurance fears following the floods.

He said: "I was not flooded but the house 100 yards down from me was. Because I have the same postcode I will be affected too when it comes to my own insurance.

"This report is suggesting it has never rained that much in all these years, but it certainly has.

"Everyone is passing the buck when it comes to Millom but we need answers."

A spokesman for Age UK denied a blanket ban was in place in the town.

He said: "Age UK Home Insurance continues to provide flood cover for the Millom area, unless there is a specific reason not to.

"While Age UK Home Insurance can be bought by telephone and online, the Age UK West Cumbria trading office closed recently which might have caused some confusion.

"Nevertheless, Age UK Home Insurance is still available to help meet the needs of older people in the local area."

The meeting, held at the Millom Network Centre, followed the draft report presented in January.

The report examines the circumstances behind the flash flooding in the town and village on September 30 last year.

Doug Coyle, of Cumbria County Council, said: "This report is not the final chapter.

"We need to work with everyone affected in the future because that is part and parcel of how we get it done."

In the days and weeks which followed, the Millom and Haverigg Flood Support Group warned more than 1,000 people could be affected by contaminated water in homes and businesses.

Of the 255 properties in Millom affected, 177 of them suffered internal flooding.

Millom resident Judith Tyson said: "When you look at this report, it is clear the figures are significantly higher for internal flooding rather than external.

"There was a lot of human excrement in that water."

Approximately two thirds of Millom and Haverigg is served by a combined system, which carries both surface water and sewage.

Mr Coyle said: "Because the sewage pipe in the middle of the road takes the water and the waste from your house, when it blocked up it flooded it back up to the toilets.

"That was always how the systems were made pre-1970.

"We know investment to change that is being looked into, but it cannot be resolved with what is there at the moment.

"We need to be able to take that water away."