Video of Mike Barnett's final hours

The Humberside fire service has defended its rescue efforts today after the father of a man who died in floodwater said emergency services “just left him to die”.

The father of Mike Barnett, 28, allowed footage of his son’s final hours to be broadcast on national television as he criticised the failed rescue operation.

Mr Barnett was stranded in rising water for four hours as fire officers battled to free his foot from a drain where it had become lodged. They failed to release him before he died of hypothermia, but Frank Duffield, Humberside’s chief fire officer said he was “extremely proud” of the rescue attempt.

Criticism of rescue workers in the area comes as the council accused the Government of allowing Hull to become the “forgotten city”.

The flood-hit residents of Hull are struggling to cope with a “humanitarian disaster” with more than 10,500 homes evacuated after the city was deluged by two months worth of rain in 12 hours. The Prime Minister today pledged to look urgently at extra funding for the area.

Barnett’s father, also called Mike, said the emergency services were ill prepared and could not decide how best to rescue his son, who was trapped in a drain behind the tropical fish importers where he worked in Hessle, near Hull, on June 25.

“They could’ve pulled him out and even if it had broken his leg or pulled his foot off, at least he’d be alive,” he told Sky News. “But they just left him to die.”

It is thought Mr Barnett got his foot trapped in a makeshift metal grille as he tried to clear some debris from a drain that was struggling to cope with floodwaters. Firefighters attempted to cut the grate, which was made from a piece of fencing put in place of the proper grille after a previous flood.

His father said: "They could have cut his foot off when they knew there was nothing else they could do. But they said the water was dirty and he might be poisoned and die. Well, he died anyway didn't he?

“The fire, police, ambulance, divers and paramedics were virtually arguing about what to do. But they should have known what to do before they even got there.”

A senior police officer has been appointed to investigate the death, but Mr Duffield, Humberside’s chief fire officer, rejected the criticism. He said: “Each and every member of the emergency services who attended that day acted in a dedicated and professional manner with little regard for their own safety whilst desperately trying to save Michael’s life.

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