SOME Bradford communities hit by severe flooding this winter were given little or no help to deal with the devastating aftermath, a council committee has heard.

Councillors who met tonight to discuss a scrutiny committee review of the council's response to several flooding incidents were told that both Apperley Bridge and Addingham had received little assistance.

Apperley Bridge hadn't received any emergency flood response in November and residents in Addingham had sorted out their own problems rather than ask for help, according to councillors.

"By the time some people (in Apperley Bridge) got to December, they had been flooded three times already," said Councillor Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle).

She suggested that the authorities in Bradford may have wrongly viewed Apperley Bridge as part of Leeds.

Members of the scrutiny committee agreed to extend the scope of their investigation to include not just Boxing Day floods but earlier incidents in November.

According to Cllr Sunderland, there were "four completely different and separate floods", all of which should form part of the review.

Councillor Jack Rickard (Con, Craven) said he agreed that some communities hadn't been given help.

In Addingham, he said, residents did not want to admit that their homes had been affected by flooding in case it affected house prices.

"They didn't put up their hand and say they had been flooded. The reason they didn't is their house value goes down."

Cllr Rickard said the council did not appear to have a "checklist" system which detailed each and every flooding incident.

Councillor Val Slater (Labour, Royds) said health bodies should be asked for their views on how residents can best cope in the aftermath of floods.

"What can happen is almost like a bereavement. People lost things that are not replaceable."

Councillors agreed that bringing in the Army in Bradford after the Boxing Day floods had been a great move.

"They were a real morale booster," said Cllr Sunderland. "The men in uniform made a massive difference."

Councillors agreed that it was important to quickly learn lessons from past mistakes as the next floods could be just around the corner.

Committee chairman Alex Ross-Shaw (Labour, Windhill and Wrose) said: "We want to learn lessons and quickly. We want to better respond to future flooding incidents."

The committee agreed to extend the scope of the review to include all flooding incidents this winter.

They agreed to take evidence from all communities affected and to review the response of, and take evidence from, a wide range of organisations including the emergency services, the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water and so on.

Members of the public will be able to give evidence to the committee at meetings this month and April.