Boris Johnson turned away by angry flood victims who say help is ‘too late’

Locals told the prime minister's offers of help were "too late" while others refused to speak to him. Picture: Sky News - Credit: Sky News

Boris Johnson has been met with unimpressed locals who told him relief efforts were ‘a little bit too late’ as he visited affected areas following severe floods.

The prime minister, who has held back from declaring the floods a national emergency, was filmed visiting Stainforth, where he spoke to several people who were out assisting soldiers prepare for more rains.

“You’ve took your time, Boris, haven’t you?” called out one man, who said “No, thank you,” when Johnson asked if he could help.

“Where’ve you been?” called another heckler.

Another woman who refused to speak to the prime minister was pushing a wheelbarrow.

"You took your time Boris"

Boris Johnson is criticised by some residents affected by floods on a visit to South Yorkshirehttps://t.co/iqr7npsTFK pic.twitter.com/dmBIwLfrvT
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 13, 2019

She said: “I’m not very happy about talking to you so, if you don’t mind, I’ll just mope on with what I’m doing.”

Saying the prime minister hadn’t helped people at all, she questioned why he had shown up.

Johnson has pledged recovery funds to local councils, equivalent to £500 per affected household and the possibility of up to £2,500 for businesses.

Johnson was forced to apologise to a woman who said how little help the community has had from authorities. She told the prime minister: “It’s been a real struggle,” she said.

She added: “We didn’t know where to start, we just used common sense basically. We’ve had all the community round, coming from miles and miles around,” adding that people had been “crying out for help”.

“Is there anything more that I can do to help?” asked Johnson, asking if he could send workers or sandbags.

“I think it’s more or less all coming in now, a little bit too late though,” said the woman. “Yeah, it’s a little bit too late isn’t it.”

She said the prime minister would be able to help out in the town centre later.

Stainforth and nearby Fishlake have been affected by the River Don bursting its banks, with many streets in Fishlake under water.

Earlier this week Johnson was filmed attempting to mop up flood waters in Matlock, in scenes that were mocked as “making it worse”.