The Catcliffe 'caravan site' of flooded families waiting to go home

A street in Catcliffe has now become a "caravan site" following heavy flooding in October

Anyone passing California Drive in Catcliffe could be forgiven for mistaking this corner of South Yorkshire as caravan holiday haven.

Drive after neat drive is filled with the homes on wheels from companies boasting names like Pageant and Europa.

But rather than residents plotting a getaway, those living here are trapped in the aftermath of flooding.

Cousins Dorothy Wood and Michael Bowler are one such family, living two lives every day.

The pair watched in horror as the nearby River Rother inched higher in the wake of October's Storm Babet.

Eventually the waterway breached and spilled into their home and that of hundreds of others nearby in Rotherham.

Furniture, appliances and personal belongings were all damaged beyond repair.

Their lovingly-decorated home was wrecked, the polluted waters leaving only the "bare bones".

The aftermath in Catcliffe, Rotherham, following flooding caused by Storm Babet

Dorothy, 80, and Michael, 77, were put up in hotel rooms as they began figuring out what came next.

Bids were submitted to move into a bungalow temporarily but they missed out on a number of opportunities despite their best efforts.

"We were pipped at the post too many times," Dorothy explains.

"We said on the last one, which we really thought we were going to get, if we don't get this one, we've had enough."

On their visits back to their damaged home they noticed the slow then growing number of caravans popping up on drives as friends and neighbours began to return.

On 18 January, after months hotel living, Dorothy and Michael's insurance gave the all-clear for a second-hand caravan and they followed suit.

The pair along with pet dog Suki are now glad to be back on what they describe as "home soil".

"We were the last ones to get the caravan, we thought we'd manage with the hotel."

"The hotel was very nice and the people were lovely but it's not your home," Dorothy says.

Michael and Dorothy cannot currently use the downstairs area of the house

After the isolation of living in a hotel, being back in the village has restarted their social life with regular activities such as coffee mornings at the local church and bowling in the evenings.

The caravan now boasts throws, pot plants and all the small signs of being a home.

During the day, it is used as a kitchen and lounge while work carries on to repair the downstairs of their real home.

"The kitchen area has got a full-sized fridge and cooker, a microwave and I brought my air fryer in and a toaster, so I've got everything I need," Dorothy says.

"And the lounge area where we can spread out, put your feet up and watch the television."

The caravan Michael and Dorothy spend their days in

Their temporary base also overlooks the neighbourhood, which Dorothy now jokingly calls "the caravan site".

The pair are hopeful they and Suki will be able to properly be back into their home before Christmas, more than a year since they were forced to leave.

But for now, every evening, like clockwork, the pair end the day with dinner inside the caravan before the short walk along the drive, through the door and up the stairs to their bedrooms and dreams of being back to the life they had before.