ENVIRONMENT Agency bosses cling to their claim they “saved” 1,000 properties by opening the flood barrier.

Their argument is that with the barrier in place and no pumps operating, there would effectively have been a dam across the Foss causing a huge back-up of Foss water.

But those 600 who were sacrificed are not convinced this action was warranted or unavoidable.

Isn’t it the responsibility of flood control managers to have contingency plans in place to quickly obtain back-up pumps if urgently needed? And is it also not incumbent upon them to periodically test and practice a manual lifting of the flood gate in the event of power failure?

All of these prudent actions were seemingly ignored in the ever-changing excuses and statements put out by the EA.

Many people are convinced this was not a failure of the installation itself but a failure of people paid to ensure it works correctly at the most critical times.

Matthew Laverack, Lord Mayors Walk, York