Flooding: 'Up here in the north-east, we’re just forgotten about'

Storm Desmond washed us out too, say Northumberland residents who feel abandoned by media and government

"There's been so much on the TV about Cumbria and the north-west - but what about us?" asked Andy Feeley as he helped his brother Ian clear his ruined house in the pretty town of Corbridge, Northumberland. Sodden carpets, muddy sofa cushions and soggy kitchen units were heaped up in the back garden, the shed tipped on its side, tools spewing out on to the grass.

"They kept showing an aerial shot of Carlisle football pitch, but they could just as easily have come here and shown our rugby and cricket pitches under water," he said on Wednesday, gesturing to the waterlogged fields behind him, where fish were swimming in the car park a day earlier.