An elderly married couple among the Whaley Bridge residents criticised by police for refusing to leave their homes which are at risk of catastrophic flooding have rejected claims they are needlessly putting emergency crews’ lives at risk.

Malcolm Venton and Lorraine Ellis said they could not leave their two border collies, Meg and Amy. The couple were asked to leave on Saturday when the evacuation zone was extended, but decided to hunker down, despite the threat of a huge wave rushing out of the damaged Toddbrook reservoir.

They are not alone in staying put: 20 residents, including a small number who were initially evacuated but have since returned to their homes, remain in 16 properties in the evacuation zone despite warnings of catastrophic consequences if the reservoir dam fails.

'The dam very nearly went': the scramble to save Whaley Bridge Read more

Deputy chief constable Rachel Swann said: “We will repeatedly visit these people to remind them of the risks they are posing to themselves and emergency responders, however there is no specific legislation under which we can force these people to leave.”

The number of remaining residents had been 31 before Derbyshire’s police and crime commissioner, Hardyal Dhindsa, told a public meeting on Monday: “There is a minority number of people not wanting to leave their properties and they are taking their lives into their own hands.”

Dhindsa acknowledged that locals were facing severe disruption as the round-the-clock operation continued, but stressed that the top priority remained the threat to life.

In the middle of Sunday night, four police officers walked down the cobbled path leading to Venton and Ellis’s home shining torches into the row of cottages.

Despite being repeatedly asked to leave their homes because of a serious risk to their lives, the couple said they could not abandon their pets and were now feeling increasingly upset at the suggestion they were putting lives at risk.

Venton, 77, and Ellis, 64, were visited by mountain rescue teams and the police on Saturday after the life-threat zone was extended. A further 55 homes in the Horwich End area of the town were cleared on Saturday evening, two days after 1,500 residents left.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Engineers and members of the emergency services inspect the damaged spillway of the Toddbrook reservoir dam. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

“They said we could be affected and that they would like us to evacuate from the premises. We said we would prefer to stop here,” said Venton. “Meg, our dog, has a bad leg after having an operation and we just couldn’t leave her. We gave them all our details and they told us to listen out for a siren.”

Venton rejected Dhindsa’s suggestion that they were risking their lives, saying they were not far from a safe zone and they had prepared for disaster.

He said: “I brought my car to the gate and we have a bag packed and if we heard the siren it would be a case of straight out and up the hill. We are in the life threat zone – if it did go, it would all rush down into the village, which is over there, but it could hit the river and it could come back this way. We know that, but we could get out.”

Out of the six cottages in the row, three are still occupied. Businesses on an industrial estate opposite the cottages on Macclesfield Road were evacuated on Thursday, when the alarm about the dam was first raised.

Ellis, whose daughter has been evacuated from Canal Street in the town, insisted they were not in danger and felt upset at how they had been portrayed.

“They are saying we are putting the services’ lives at risk, but we just would rather stay in our own home. We have got two dogs and we don’t want to put them under stress by taking them to a high school where there will be hundreds of dogs,” said Ellis.

“They did offer to put the dog in a car for us, but we don’t have to go. They were very nice about it and they weren’t forcing us, so we made the decision to stay put. We have got the car outside and we know what to do.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, looks at the Toddbrook reservoir. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

On Monday, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, hailed the “incredible spirit” of the Whaley Bridge communities as he saw the ongoing repair work on the damaged dam.

He said: “What you see is this incredible spirit around working so well together. I went out to talk to the construction workers who are repairing the dam. Well, you have to just admire the skill of dropping a lot of aggregate in pinpoint accuracy and then backfilling with concrete and further aggregate, which they are doing now.

“Impressive, but obviously the water levels have got to go down. That’s happening and hopefully people will be able to return to their homes, but of course there has to be then the question of long-term repair to the dam and the safety of it in the future.”

Asked if he thought an inquiry should take place, he replied: “Yes, there has to be an inquiry. An inquiry to make sure all the coordination worked effectively – and everything I have seen shows it did – but there are always lessons to be learned.”