An RAF helicopter has been drafted to help stop the Toddbrook Reservoir from bursting and releasing approximately 1.3 million tonnes of water onto the town of Whaley Bridge. The Ministry of Defence said the RAF Chinook will drop 400 tonnes of aggregate onto the reservoir. A MOD spokesman said: “It will drop one-ton bags of aggregate – a mixture of sand, gravel and stone – into Todd Brook. “This is intended to stem the flow of water into the reservoir.”

Police chiefs have already warned there is a “very real danger” to people’s lives should the dam wall collapse.

The majority of people living in the town were evacuated on Thursday as a precaution.

Where is Whaley Bridge?

Whaley Bridge is a small town located in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, approximately 16 miles southeast of Manchester.

The town’s population is 6,500 people.

Residents hoping to collect belongings were instead directed to an evacuation point at a school in Chapel-en-le-Frith on Wednesday.

Police have said the timescale of when people can return is “currently unknown”.

Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal and River Trust, which runs the reservoir, warned it could be “at least 24 hours” until they can rule out the dam collapsing.

He said: “We clearly don’t know the nature of the failure, we’ve not had the opportunity to examine it, but we’re operating in a very precautionary way with the other agencies.

“Our first priority is to draw down the water and it’s very important that we do keep everyone out of the area until that is done.

“It will be at least 24 hours, it could be longer, it really depends on how much progress we can make overnight and into tomorrow morning.”

He added that the last annual inspection of the structure by a senior engineer was last November.

A severe flood warning, meaning there is a danger to life, remains in place for the River Goyt at Whaley Bridge by the Environment Agency.

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