RESIDENTS showed the Blitz spirit after an elderly couple's house was flooded on Christmas Day.
Neighbours rallied round after the crisis at John and Gwen Ashworth's home in Chester Road, Whitby.
The couple had been enjoying Christmas dinner with three elderly female friends.
Then at 5.35pm one of them, 80-year-old Madge Owen, went to the bathroom.
She became dizzy and, as she fell, grabbed the radiator and pulled it off the wall, causing a flood in the bathroom.
Next-door neighbour Keith Parry came to the rescue, turning off the water supply and calling out Ellesmere Port Fire Service, which was on the scene within four minutes.
Leading firefighter Stuart Forshaw, who was in charge, set about cutting off the water supply to the header tank in the loft and isolating the electrics that had been damaged.
The flood waters were mopped up by the brigade, and Mersey Regional Ambulance paramedics checked out Mrs Owen, who didn't suffer any serious injuries.
But this left the Ashworths and their guests in a cold, dark house on Christmas night.
That was until some more good neighbours, Nicky and James, dropped by to help.
Nicky supplied hot water bottles to the pensioners, while James rigged up an extension cable from his house to provide them with power.
Station officer Ken Dickinson said: 'W
hat could have been a very bad Christmas was averted by the good fortune of having good neighbours, who really showed the Blitz spirit.'
Flooding expert, leading firefighter Glynn Astley, said every householder should know how to isolate their water, gas and electrics in an emergency.
In a separate incident, Ellesmere Port firefighters rescued a man from a house fire in Jonson Road, Neston, at 11.43pm on Christmas Eve.
