Why wait for ministers? I built my own £20,000 flood defence: Engineer fitted walls, gates and pumps around his cottage to realise his dream of living by the river

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Sitting on the bank of the River Derwent, Carl Canty’s house is surrounded by water as far as the eye can see.

At least three feet of floodwater filled his garden on Boxing Day when the swollen river burst its banks.

But inside Mr Canty and his partner Barbara Shiells are dry and warm thanks to £20,000 of flood defences they put in themselves.

The 55-year-old precision engineer designed and helped to fit flood walls, gates and pumps that have saved the house from devastation.

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Warm and dry: Carl Canty, from Bubwith, near Selby, stands at the gate of his garden which - thanks to his self-installed flood defences - has avoided the devastation caused by flooding in the area

Two hefty gates and a flood wall between the house and the garden act as the main line of defence.

Inevitably, some water seeps underneath, so a sump was dug nearby and fitted with automatic pumps to feed the water back into the river.

The walls of the three-bedroom cottage near Selby, North Yorkshire, are lined with a waterproof membrane which acts like a layer of cling film to hold water back.

And even the garden gazebo is flood proof. Fitted with a hydraulics system, the decking of the gazebo can be raised by 6ft to save it from water damage.

The project took a year to complete and was done in 2006 while the couple renovated their picturesque 250-year-old house, which sits next to a 12th-century parish church.

Mr Canty said that in order to realise his dream of living by the water, he knew he would have to invest in personal defences. ‘I’ve always yearned to live by a river and we’re probably the lowest house in the area,’ he added.

‘If it floods, we’d be the first to be hit in the village so I knew I had to seriously try to tackle the problem myself. 

‘At first I saw it as a bit of a challenge. I thought “I’ll sort out this flood problem myself, then”.

‘But it was a massive task. This was no little DIY project – a lot of time and thought went into it.’

The couple, who have five grown-up children between them, said they locked the flood gates on Boxing Day morning. Miss Shiells, 50, a diet expert, said they have now convinced friends and family that the defences will hold. 

Summer days: Carl Canty's garden, back in the summer months, before the River Derwent burst its banks and flood waters devastated the area surrounding his home

Devastation: A picture taken this week shows Carl's garden now, completely underwater after the river burst its banks. But his home has avoided the river's destructive force thanks to his home-made flood defences

She said: ‘It’s a bit disconcerting, sitting around celebrating while you can hear the water lapping against the wall.

‘But all the kids have faith in Carl, we’ve been flooded a number of times over the years and as long as the wall isn’t breached, we’re all right.’

Unlike many in the area, Mr Canty was able to get reasonable home insurance after he proved the lengths he would go to protect his property. ‘I know it’s an extreme thing to do – it’s not for everybody and we’re very lucky to have been able to protect ourselves,’ he said. 

‘Of course, our thoughts are with people who have been devastated by the floods.’

Making the house completely waterproof involved some trial and error, Mr Canty explained. ‘The pumps we have now switch themselves on when the water reaches a certain level. I came up with that after one disastrous occasion when we were away on holiday and got flood warnings from the Environment Agency.

‘Trying to direct friends over the phone to switch on a complex pumping system when you’re halfway round the world is not ideal.’

The self-proclaimed eccentric said that friends and neighbours are in disbelief at some of his plans.

‘Maybe people think I’m a bit barmy. But I fell in love with this house. Half an hour after I walked into it, I started sketching some designs.

‘It was in a state of total disrepair so we had to gut the house and renovate it. It made sense to add a few extras that would keep us dry in the process.’