Boris Johnson confronted in public by angry flood victims who call his government's response a 'pittance'

• Residents of a flood-struck town in Yorkshire have confronted Boris Johnson on the election campaign trail over his response to the floods which have devastated parts of north England.
• One resident told him: "You should have been there Saturday morning having a meeting […] and I'm sorry your announcements yesterday were a pittance."
• Johnson has been criticised for not declaring a national emergency over the issue, which has caused more than 1,200 homes to be evacuated and claimed one life since last week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Wednesday confronted by angry residents of a flood-hit town in Yorkshire, who called the UK government's response to the crisis in the north of England a "pittance."

"It's took you over five days," one person told the prime minister in footage filmed by ITV.

"You should have been there Saturday morning having a meeting […] and I'm sorry your announcements yesterday were a pittance."

Watch Johnson get confronted by flood victims in Yorkshire

Johnson has been heavily criticised by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for not declaring a national emergency over the issue, which has caused more than 1,200 homes to be evacuated in northern England since last week.

In the footage, residents echoed that criticism, and told Johnson: "You made a statement [saying] it's not an emergency."

Another added: "It is an emergency Boris."

In different footage published by the BBC, a resident told the prime minister: "you took your time Boris."

The prime minister chaired a meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra on Tuesday.

The government announced it would "provide funding to support the recovery efforts of local councils where households and businesses have been affected."

Johnson was filmed mopping up floodwater in a branch of Specsavers in flood-hit Matlock on Friday night after making a campaign stop nearby.

Earlier that day the body of a woman had been found after it was swept away by a river that had swelled after flooding.

The prime minister had earlier in his visit that the government needed to invest in flood defences but said the crisis was not "looking like something we need to escalate to the level of a national emergency."

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