A PENSIONER has told how he clung to a telegraph pole to stop being washed away as he waited to be rescued from flash floods.

Malcolm Dowson, of Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, was among dozens of people left counting the cost yesterday of widespread flooding in the county.

The 68-year-old was one of five people rescued from the Moor Vale Lane area of the town, which was hit by flooding from higher ground for the third time in five years on Sunday.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service received more than 30 calls to flooding-related incidents, with a total of 13 people rescued following a day of torrential rain.

Mr Dowson said: “There was muddy water creeping up my leg and I thought I’d better get to safety.

“I climbed a wall and grabbed the pole, or I would have been swept off my feet.”

Also affected were Paul and Liz Barnes, who own two holiday homes in the area.

The couple travelled from Sheffield to survey the damage.

Mrs Barnes said: “The muddy water was over 4ft high, everything below that was ruined.

“When it flooded before, just water came in, but this time there was mud as well.”

Elsewhere, emergency services said five people, including a ten-year-old child, had a lucky escape after being trapped in a minibus in Lawns Road, near Danby, on the North Yorks Moors.

The vehicle was swept away by fast-flowing water on Sunday evening.

The four men and the child, along with a puppy, were rescued by the Whitby- based swift water rescue team.

In separate incidents, a couple in their 50s were rescued after getting stuck on a waterlogged road between Carlton and Faceby, while a farmer was rescued by boat after being cut off by rising waters from the River Esk, as he walked his dogs at Lanburn Bank, in Castleton.

Despite the number of calls, no one was seriously injured.

Crews also attended incidents in Richmond, Boroughbridge, Easingwold, Great Broughton and Thirsk.

Although flood warnings are no longer in place, forecasters say rain is likely to fall in the affected areas throughout the week, potentially causing further problems on saturated ground.