“It’s been such an amazing community camaraderie” - Toy shop owner praises community spirit of Hebden Bridge after flooding due to Storm Ciara

Aamir Yusuf, owner of toy and game shop Totally Awesome, on Market Street, said: “We have a flood plan that when we hear the siren we go to the shop and lift all the stock as high as we can and just leave it to the gods.

“It’s a storm after all, but we just try to minimise the damage.

“The water was two foot high when I left the shop. Some seeped through into the shop, around six to eight inches.

“But we’ve cleaned the shop, scrubbed it down and got it ready for re-opening.

“But we had help from lots and lots of amazing people.

“I got to the shop at 6am on Monday and by 7am one of our customers knocked on my door with his two children and a mop and a bucket and said ‘how can we help?’

“Then at 7.30am, a complete stranger turned up with a bucket and some sponges saying ‘how can I help?’

“That happened all day. It’s been such an amazing community camaraderie.

“It brought a tear to my wife’s eye.”

Mr Yusuf also has a shop in the Piece Hall, and says the decision to evacuate the building and remain closed on Sunday was the right thing to do due to the high winds.