A flood left pupils trapped in a school as Leicestershire emergency services declared a 'major incident' today with multiple flood warnings. Edenham Church of England School had to put special measure in place with the fire brigade providing services to pick up children due to flooding in the area and to avoid cars getting stuck.
Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has put red alerts in place - meaning flooding is expected following heavy rainfall and melting snow. Major flooding has forced dozens of road closures and evacuations across the county as water levels continue to rise.
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service declared the incident at 7.35am today due to the scale of flooding and increasing calls for help. The scale of disruption has led to widespread travel chaos across the county's transport network. Multiple roads have been closed and rail services suspended as emergency services battle rising water levels.
Firefighters in Leicestershire received more than 200 calls and rescued 17 people on Monday morning, while authorities in Lincolnshire warned conditions could deteriorate overnight as water iced over. A message from Edenham C of E School to parents at lunch time read: "We are currently in communication with the Fire Brigade who are in the village and the advice they have provided at this time is for parents not to collect children because they do not want any more vehicles getting stuck.
"Although the fire brigade believes the water levels are dropping at this point, they cannot predict whether it will be at a safe level in time for collection. Therefore we are now planning with the fire brigade as to arrangements for the collection of children at the end of the school day. If required the fire brigade will be providing vehicles to transport children accompanied by a member of staff to an agreed safe pick up point to meet parents.".
