The overnight ghost town: Eerie images reveal the silent streets and soulless shops of Peak District community that fled over fears of crumbling dam

• Whaley Bridge is normally a bustling Derbyshire town that attracts hoardes of tourists for the Peak District
• But 1,000 residents have now been evacuated by police over concerns reservoir could deluge their area
• RAF Chinook delivers sandbags at Toddbrook Reservoir dam which is feared to be on verge of collapse

With a population of 6,500, the picturesque location of Whaley Bridge is normally a bustling town that attracts hoardes of tourists looking to enjoy to the beauty of the Peak District.

But this quaint area of Derbyshire was strangely quiet today, save for the noise of an RAF Chinook helicopter delivering sandbags to try to avert disaster at the Toddbrook Reservoir dam feared to be on the verge of collapse. 

Some 1,000 residents have now been evacuated by police over concerns their area could be deluged, although 40-year-old resident Hanna Sillitoe ignored the calls to leave and described the atmosphere in the area as ‘eerie’.

The streets of Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire has been left eerily quiet today after the town was evacuated by police yesterday

The empty streets of Whaley Bridge are pictured in this drone image today following an evacuation of the town by officers

Two police cars on patrol in Whaley Bridge after serious damage to Toddbrook Reservoir was caused by heavy rainfall

She filmed the village while out running early this morning – sharing a video to Twitter which shows its streets empty and silent. She said: ‘It feels eerie here, because in every other sense it’s a completely ordinary Friday.

‘The weather is beautiful, the sun is shining… and then a great big Chinook flies over the house and the stark reality of what’s happening upstream hits us again.’

The author said she heard the RAF Chinook sent to help emergency efforts in stabilising the dam at Toddbrook with sandbags flying overhead at 5am – later running along the canal, her usual jogging route, to investigate.

Despite expecting cordons, Ms Sillitoe – who lives about a mile away but downstream from the village – said there were none and she did not have to turn back, continuing on to Whaley Bridge.

Ms Sillitoe said she and other residents of her hamlet were given ‘conflicting advice’, with police advising evacuation but Government flood warning information suggesting they were safe.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from the Derbyshire town of Whaley Bridge over fears the dam could rupture 

Around 1,000 people were evacuated from the town but most found their own accommodation with family and friends 

The empy streets of the town of Whaley Bridge which has been evacuated due to its proximity to the Toddbrook Reservoir

The reservoir dam feared to be on the verge of collapse is facing a ‘critical’ moment as the military work to stop it bursting

‘We have livestock and horses here,’ she said. Our personal decision at present is to stay. If the dam goes, my cottage is in the firing line down river – we already had bad floods on Wednesday but the water has since subsided. What will be will be.’

Ms Sillitoe added her ‘thoughts are with those directly under the dam’.

Brian Stanway, whose fireplace and woodburner business is in the middle of Whaley Bridge, said he has ‘no time frame whatsoever’ about when he will be able to return to open the business.

‘We just hope that everyone’s safe, that’s the main thing, and that people have their homes to go back to,’ he said. It’s a lovely town with a great local community and local spirit.’

The empy streets of the town of Whaley Bridge, with residents having been moved to nearby Chapel en le Frith and Buxton

Hanna Sillitoe filmed the village, evacuated due to a nearby dam at risk of bursting, while out running early this morning

Resident Ms Sillitoe shared a video to Twitter this morning which shows the streets of Whaley Bridge empty and silent

The resident said she heard the RAF Chinook sent to help emergency efforts in stabilising the dam at Toddbrook Reservoir

Asked whether he ever had fears about the dam, Mr Stanway said: ‘It’s always been on my mind a little bit because of the repairs that were done about 30 years ago. It has crossed my mind. But it looks so solid.’

Water flowing into Toddbrook was ‘reduced considerably’ overnight but engineers remain ‘very concerned’ about the integrity of the damaged 180-year-old structure, which contains around 1.3 million tonnes of water.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from Whaley Bridge over fears it could rupture and flood their homes. 

An RAF Chinook and firefighters using high-volume pumps appear to have partly stabilised the ‘unprecedented, fast-moving, emergency situation’ caused by heavy rain.

A lack of bread on the shelves at Co-op supermarket in Whaley Bridge with roads shut off for deliveries

Engineers were scrambled to Toddbrook Reservoir and local residents were evacuated after part of a dam wall collapsed

An RAF Chinook helicopter flies in sandbags to help repair the dam at Toddbrook Reservoir near Whaley Bridge today

An RAF Chinook helicopter flies in sandbags to Derbyshire today after the dam at the reservoir was damaged by heavy rainfall

The Chinook has been dropping one-ton sandbags on to the damaged area to bolster the structure. Improving weather and work on the inflows means the amount of water entering the reservoir has also reduced. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said ‘first responders, engineers and RAF crews are working around the clock to fix the dam’ and he has ordered a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee to discuss the situation.  

The reservoir is on the north-west edge of the Peak District National Park and was built in 1831, according to experts, although the Environment Agency record it as being built in 1840-41.

According to a 2011 Environment Agency report on national dam incidents, Toddbrook ‘has a history of leakage’.

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