Work to prevent the dam at Toddbrook Reservoir from bursting has entered its third day amid warnings of thunderstorms and possible flooding in the stricken area.

Water levels at the 300 million gallon reservoir have now reduced by about half a metre but the situation is still ‘critical.’

Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the Derbyshire site on Friday and pledged the damaged 180-year-old structure would have a ‘major rebuild.’

In the meantime there is still a race to stop the dam breaking and catastrophically flooding the town of Whaley Bridge.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for much of northern England and the Midlands on Sunday, which includes the area around the reservoir.

It warns there could be damage and disruption from floodwater and lightning strikes.

Some 1,500 residents have been evacuated, although they were allowed to briefly return on Friday to pick up vital medicines and pets.

They have now been warned it could be ‘several days’ before they can go home and they re-enter the ghost town ‘at their own risk.’

Police, the Environment Agency, and the Canal and River Trust, which owns the reservoir, have all said there is a ‘real risk’ the dam could collapse and flood the town.

Mr Johnson described the situation as ‘pretty scary’ and said the dam wall was ‘dodgy but stable.’

An RAF Chinook from Odiham, Hampshire, has been delivering 400 tonnes of aggregate and piling it up on the damaged slipway to shore it up and divert water.

Around 150 firefighters using high-volume pumps are also removing some of 1.3 million tonnes of water from the reservoir.

By Saturday morning, levels had reduced by around half a metre.

Mr Johnson said he thought levels needed to fall by a total of eight metres, although there was some discussion with the surrounding officials about whether this was the exact figure.

The water being removed is being pumped into the River Goyt, below the reservoir, to ease the pressure.

However, the levels of the river itself are high following heavy rain.

If the dam is about to fail, police said emergency service vehicles will sound their horns three times and a loudhailer will also sound as a warning to residents.

Police have closed railway lines in the Whaley Bridge area over the risk of potential flooding which is due to continue into the weekend.

Chapel-en-le-Frith High School has been the focal point for those evacuated from their homes.

Mr Johnson spoke to locals there after flying over the dam.

At the centre, he said: ‘I was talking to one of the villagers from Whaley Bridge who said that he remembered something like this happening 50 years ago.

‘We’ve had an exceptional weather event, we must make sure that this dam can cope with it in the future.

‘That will mean a major rebuild, clearly.’

The dam wall was damaged during heavy rains earlier this week.

It was constructed in 1831 using puddled clay core and supported by thousands of tonnes of earth.

The damaged slipway is believed to have been reinforced with concrete in the 1970s.

It is inspected twice a week and an examination on Thursday revealed the fault.

Specialist divers have been sent in to assess it but they are having to use their sense of touch as visibility is too poor to see.

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