SELFLESS residents have been nominated for the York & District Medal after they worked through the night helping flood victims.

Tamara Lonsdale, Vicky Mckennan, Ian Peart and Emma Shaw responded to an urgent call for sandbags on Huntington Road when it flooded over Christmas.

Hilary Platt, of Roche Avenue, York, nominated them for the new award which will be given to 50 deserving heroes.

She said: “All the people who helped were heroes but these few were offering what was needed when it was needed right from the start.”

She added that they acted selflessly and were not seeking any recognition for their efforts.

Emma Shaw, a dinner lady at Huntingdon School, saw a call for help on Facebook and joined friends Ian, Vicky and Tamara in driving sandbags to affected homes overnight.

The 28-year-old said: “I’m quite shocked to be honest. I don’t deserve this.”

Vicky Mckennan, 28, a care worker at Minster Grange, said she was happy to help and would want others to do the same if she had been in that situation herself.

Her children Lilly, aged seven, and Gracey, five, also helped at the Bell Farm Social Hall collection hub where food and cleaning products were distributed after the devastation.

Tamara Lonsdale, 31, said that she had not acted for any recognition.

She added: “We saw nobody was helping these people so we went out and got sandbags ourselves.”

Landscape gardener Ian Peart was also nominated for the York & District Medal. The 34-year-old said that they were only responding to the need for volunteers and worked into the early hours of the morning to help.

He said: “I think it’s a lovely thing to be nominated for this award. We all grew up together on the Bell Farm Estate and we’ve been friends forever."

York Press:

Residents being rescued from their flooded homes on Huntington Road. Picture: Press Association

The Press has teamed up with City of York Council to honour the heroes of the floods, and the York & District Medal will be presented to people or organisations who stepped up to the plate and came to the rescue of inundated homes and businesses.

The presentations event, and Commendation certificates for those who don’t receive a medal, are being supported by York-based mutual healthcare provider, Benenden.

To nominate your flood heroes, visit http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/flood_heroes_nomination_form/

Alternatively, email newsdesk@thepress.co.uk with your name, address and contact details, plus the name and contact details (if available) of the person you are nominating, and explain the reasons for the nomination, or send your completed nominations to York & District Medal, Newsdesk, The Press, 84-86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN.