Sonia Kataria
BBC News

Sonia Kataria
BBC News

Councillor Barry Lewis, leader of Derbyshire County Council, said: "My thoughts are with the residents of Whaley Bridge.

"Lots of people will feel anxious, but let me reassure you that all agencies are pulling together and working extremely hard to keep residents safe."

Mr Lewis urged people affected by the floods and evacuated from their homes and businesses to "listen to the emergency services and stay safe".

Rebecca Morelle
Science correspondent, BBC News

The dam is quite old – it was built in 1831 and is an earth-filled construction.

The problem is the damage is high up. The key is to get the water levels down as fast as you can.

You can divert it out through channels and there is a plug deep down.

The key will be to see if it holds overnight. If it does, there’s a good chance they can repair the dam but it will take months.

Image source, Reuters

Alice Evans
BBC News London

Nigel Carson, who lives near to the dam in Whaley Bridge, said he felt some people in the area were not taking the problem "as seriously as they should".

"The whole of the village is vulnerable to this," he added.

Mr Carson, whose home is above the level of the dam and has therefore not had to be evacuated, said there was nobody down in the "ghost town" at all now.

"They're estimating that without it raining it will take two to three days to get the water level down two metres [but] it's raining heavily again now, and they need to get it down an awful lot more than two metres to make this safe,” he said.

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

Firefighters from across the country are in Whaley Bridge, pumping water from the Toddbrook Reservoir after a partial collapse of its dam today.

The National Fire Chiefs Council say that 10 high volume pumps are currently working at reducing the water levels in the reservoir as there are concern the dam's wall could collapse, external.

This operation is likely to continue over the weekend.

The pumps can move up to 7,000 litres of water per minute to other locations.

Roy Wilsher, Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council, said: "Fire and Rescue Services from across the country mobilise quickly to situations such as this and play a key role in leading the response.

"Our ability to mobilise our assets in this way is an essential part of our national resilience response."

Sonia Kataria
BBC News

Jennifer, owner of the Goyt Inn, has been evacuated to the the Chapel-en-le-Frith High School.

She said: “I rang my partner and said, ‘Bring the dog. We have to get out’.

"We’ve been told if we need accommodation, something will be organised, but at the moment, [the council] are waiting on structural reports from engineers.

"The dam is a mess. It really looks very unsafe and there’s a lot of water in that reservoir.”

Image source, Google

BBC News

Professor Nigel Wright, a civil engineer and an expert in flood risk management, said the evacuation is a sensible precaution.

"There's always a chance that you will move people and then nothing will happen, but that's much better than not moving them and then something happens."

He expects people to be out of their homes for a few days, rather than weeks.

"Within 12 hours or so they will be able to tell them how long it's going to be," he said.

Image source, PA Media

Explaining how the dam became damaged, he said: "I think the high water has been going over the concrete dam.

“The concrete is really a facing with earth underneath and the water has just got into some of the cracks, knocked some of the concrete off and it's now wearing away some of the earth inside."

He said the water would need to be let out "as fast as possible, but not too fast that it causes further problems downstream".

BBC News

Ruth George, MP for High Peak, has said she can see the evacuation lasting for a few days.

Speaking to BBC News, she said: "Nobody is saying anything at the moment but it’s hard to see how they can get the water in the reservoir down quicker than that.

Image source, PA Media

"The dam had some pretty significant structural repairs a few years ago. We were told after that it was safe but we have had an unprecedented amount of water coming down in the past few days.

"Nobody is looking at laying the blame. What we want to do is make sure the people in the town are safe."

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

The Environment Agency are currently in Whaley Bridge, working with Derbyshire County Council and emergency services following today's evacuation.

Sonia Kataria
BBC News

BBC Radio 5 Live

Melissa Welliver lives next to Toddbrook Reservoir and has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It’s very, very quiet here," she said.

"My auntie Lesley lives in Chapel [en-le-Frith] and she says all she can hear are sirens going past, Chapel being where everyone’s been evacuated to.

"Here, it’s just silence, everyone’s waiting to see what will happen."

Click here for live coverage on BBC Sounds.

Sandish Shoker
BBC News

The Canal and River Trust, which owns the reservoir, has said they are working with other organisations to "manage the potential risks arising from damage to the spillway at Toddbrook Reservoir which feeds the Peak Forest Canal."

A spokesman said their engineers are on site assessing the scale of the damage and over the next few hours will be working to "draw down water from the reservoir in a controlled way to reduce the risk to surrounding communities."

Image source, PA Media

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

Whaley Bridge residents are welcome to stay overnight at the evacuation centre, Derbyshire County Council have said.

Chapel-en-le-Frith High School was named the designated point by Derbyshire Police when they called for the evacuation this afternoon.

A council spokeswoman said: "Most people are going to stay with friends and family.

"The last we heard there were about 30 people at the centre and they could well move on too but they are welcome to stay overnight if they wish."

It is not known how many people have passed through the evacuation point today.

Sonia Kataria
BBC News

Symon Trelfa, who's home is near the dam, said he is "worried I may have no home to return to".

He said: "There were rumours going around about the state of the dam yesterday so I decided to move into my sister’s house in Chapel en le Frith.

Mr Trelfa added: "There’s gridlock on the local roads at the moment – people are abandoning vehicles."

Image source, Reuters

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

A man evacuated from Whaley Bridge this afternoon has spoken of the "worry" in the town after the partial collapse of the dam.

David Brocklehurst said: "If the dam had gone then it would have taken us all out but there was more a sense of worry than widespread panic."

Image source, PA Media

He and his colleagues at JS Burgess engineering, on the Bingswood Industrial Estate, said: "We were told to evacuate at about 14:30 and were all out by about 14:45."

Mr Brocklehurst, who has lived in Whaley Bridge for four-and-a-half-years but grew up in neighbouring Buxworth, has not been evacuated from the town, as his house is on top of a hill above the reservoir.

He added: "I've never seen anything like this before and I don't think anyone else has. It's just so rare that something like this happens."

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

A woman who lives in Whaley Bridge, above the reservoir, has said it's like "a ghost town".

Melissa Welliver said: "The main area of Whaley Range (in front of the dam) has been evacuated.

Image source, Reuters

"My partner lives in the opposite part of town. Like me, he hasn’t been evacuated as yet.

"I brought water down to the affected area earlier today.The community is pitching in to help each other, including offers of accommodation.

"Structural engineers have arrived to try and carry out repairs."

Andy Gill
Reporter, BBC North West Tonight

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live reporter Jill McKenzie is in Chapel-en-le-Frith where people from nearby Whaley Bridge are being evacuated to.

“There are about 40 people here who’ve left Whaley Bridge," she said. "But they are expecting that to get busier as people leave work a little bit later on.

Image source, Reuters

“They have got structural engineers trying to empty the reservoir but there is warning that the dam could go at any time.

"And if it does, there is a huge amount of water in Toddbrook Reservoir - it would flow down, it would swamp the town centre, the primary school. The damage to buildings potentially is absolutely enormous.”

Jill said she had spoken to a county councillor who told her 85% of people so far had been evacuated out of the cordoned off area.

“People are a bit worried about their businesses, about their homes but for the most part, people are taking it all in their stride,” she said.

BBC Radio 5 Live

The dam wall at Toddbrook Reservoir has been damaged after heavy rain.