KEIGHLEY residents who helped people hit by Boxing Day floods in the town have been honoured at an event hosted by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of London.

Paul Skinner and Michelle Sutton, of the Keighley Emergency Relief Team, were invited to the Great Yorkshire Lunch – a celebration at The Mansion House in London of the county’s clean-up campaign following Storm Eva.

Yorkshire Building Society chairman, John Heaps, also attended in recognition of Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation’s £25,000 contribution to flood-hit communities across the North and the many hours spent volunteering by society staff.

Dave Forrest, development manager at Bradford District Community fund, said: “The team in Keighley worked extremely hard to provide practical help and invaluable support to the hundreds of households affected by the Boxing Days floods.

"From moving tonnes of debris, to filling sandbags and co-ordinating pumps, they helped recruit and rally volunteers and co-ordinated responses with agencies and the local authority.”

The Lord Mayor, Jeffrey Evans, said: “It was a pleasure to celebrate Yorkshire’s important contribution to UK business, culture and community, and particularly to acknowledge the work of flood heroes like Paul Skinner and Michelle Sutton for all their help with the clean-up operation after last year’s floods in the county."