A ruined village which has lain underwater for more than 30 years has provided the scene for Ilkley novelist June Oldham's latest book.

The book - called Undercurrents - was inspired by Mrs Oldham's visits to Thruscross Reservoir, near Blubberhouses, during the drought of 1995 when the village appeared above water level for the first time in three decades.

Water authorities had flooded the deserted village in 1966 to make it into a reservoir using water from the Washburn river, but not all buildings in the old village - called West End- had been demolished.

Mrs Oldham said that their reappearance during the drought year had a chilling effect.

She said: "I went to see for myself and I found it very eerie and disturbing. You could see what used to be the remains of a church and a little bridge, with another bridge further down.

"You could also make out pathways and it gave me the feeling that I was intruding somehow. That's how I got started on the novel."

The novel Undercurrents is based on Mrs Oldham's experiences of West End and is based on a teenage boy, Fergal, who is staying in the neighbourhood, helping his mother nurse an old lady.

He soon finds out that locals are dismayed by the re-emergence of the village and they hint of events that have left bitter feelings in their wake.

Undercurrents is Mrs Oldham's sixth novel and is published by Hodder Children's Books at £4.99.

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