The father of a man who died when his foot got stuck in an open drain during yesterday's torrential storms has said that he would have told medics to amputate his limb to free him, but was turned away from the scene by police and learnt of his son's death on television.

Michael Barnett, whose son was one of three people who died in yesterday's downpour, spoke as fire officers desperately pumped water from a reservoir near Rotherham that was close to collapse this afternoon, placing homes at risk, and causing a section of the M1 motorway to be closed as a precaution.

More than 700 residents from close to the site of Ulley Dam, in South Yorkshire, were evacuated in the early hours of this morning, after an expert warned there was a "significant risk" the dam walls could fail after abnormally heavy rain.

Elsewhere, councils began a clean-up after more than a month's rainfall fell on large parts of the North East and Midlands in a single day. The downpour raised questions about Britain's flood defences if, as experts predict, global warming leads to more extreme "tropical" weather.

Phil Rothwell, a senior official at the Environment Agency, told Times Online that the agency itself required £150 million extra per year for the next 20 years to update and improve flood defence systems - and local councils would have to spend hundreds of millions more.

Recounting the death of his son, Mr Barnett said today that he had been turned away from the street in Hessle, near Hull, where the 28-year-old, also called Michael, was trapped and told that he would be taken to see him in hospital as soon as he was released.

Returning home just a few minutes later, the retired panel beater turned on the television to see breaking news headlines that his son had died.

"The television said 'Young man trapped in drain has died'. I just turned the telly off," he said. "I didn’t want to believe it, but I suppose I knew I had lost him."

He added: "I wish I had been allowed to help. I would have got him out. I would have done anything to save him. I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere near and now I will never see him again."

Mr Barnett added that he wanted to tell emergency crews to amputate his son's leg. "I would have said do it. Do anything," he told the Hull Daily Mail newspaper.

Firefighters battled for hours to free Michael, whose foot became wedged as he attempted to clear the overflowing drain, as water rose up to his neck. He is eventually believed to have died of hypothermia rather than drowning.

Mr Barnett, whose son was one of three people who died in the storms that drenched northern England and the Midlands, spoke as fire officers continued to pump water away from a reservoir near Rotherham that was close to collapsing this afternoon, placing people's properties and livelihoods at risk, and causing a junction of the M1 motorway to be closed as a precaution.

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