SOUTH Lakeland District Council's response to threatened flooding in south Ulverston was branded "pathetic" after elderly residents were told to fetch their own sandbags from a council depot.

"I feel pretty let down," complained 68-year-old Ken Thompson, of Rydal Road, which was surrounded by flood water after Dragley Beck burst its banks on Monday. "I'm 68, I can't pick up sandbags and I haven't got a car.

"Most people along here are old people of 80 or 90. They can't collect sandbags, some have no relatives and they are stuck. Something has to be done for them."

After calls to his landlord South Lakes Housing, its officers delivered bags to Mr Thompson and his neighbour. As the rains eased, gardens were left flooded but the waters did not invade homes on Rydal Road or nearby Outcast.

Ulverston town councillor and SLDC councillor Phil Lister argued that the district council should have hired extra staff in response to Sunday's severe weather warning to ensure people were on hand to take sandbags to those in need.

He was further frustrated that its North Lonsdale Road depot was shut at 5pm leaving anyone returning from work to discover floodwaters at their door stranded with no means to get sandbags.

"I had half-a-dozen complaints including one from an 80-year-old woman," he said. "I would be interested to hear how an 80-year-old housebound woman can drag herself eight sandbags to protect her back garden. SLDC's response to numerous residents was frankly pathetic."

But SLDC's environmental protection manager Mark Richardson said if the same situation arose tomorrow he would deal with it in exactly the same way.

"The situation was well warned about and there were sandbags available. We do not plant sandbags for people as a matter of course and we are not resourced to do so."

He added that the council shut the Ulverston depot at 5pm as usual because water levels were falling. In all, 350 sandbags were picked up out of 1,000 used across the district. To protect against any further flooding, 1,000 more bags were being taken to Ulverston this week.

South Lakes Housing the independent management organisation which looks after council properties said it would deliver sandbags to tenants who could not collect them on request via their repairs hotline on 0845-057-0080.