GETTY 30 Syrian families had been selected for re-housing in the Lake District

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Last November, Cumbria County Council announced that 30 families fleeing Syria had been selected for re-housing in the Lake District having been selected from camps in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. But since then dozens of families from flood-battered Kendal, in Cumbria, have been forced from their own homes due to the torrential rain caused by Storm Desmond. Now the crisis-hit council has been granted a Government exemption from a requirement to house Syrian families – as it insists it needs all its available homes for those in dire need that were hit by the last month’s catastrophic floods.

GETTY Ann Widdecombe praised the council for putting its struggling taxpayers first

This is a positive and perfectly sensible move by the Government to help victims of the terrible floods in the Lake District Ann Widdecombe

Yesterday Daily Express columnist and former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe praised the council for putting it’s struggling taxpaying residents first. She said: “This is a positive and perfectly sensible move by the Government to help victims of the terrible floods in the Lake District. “It is right and proper that Cumbria County Council be given exemption from the refugee quota because of the pressing needs of the people made homeless by the floods. “It is good to see that the Government recognises their needs and is prepared to act.”

EPA Refugees from the Middle East are still flooding across Europe

Kendal resident Gareth Hooper, 43, also welcomed the plan, saying: “Many of my friends have been hit by the flooding and it will scar the area for a long time. “I think it is right we should welcome the genuinely needy refugees from Syria, but the Lakes is facing it’s own crisis too. Maybe not similar but still a crisis.” A county council spokesman said: “Before the floods Cumbria was among the first to offer assistance to Syrian refugees. “To date, all the refugees that have come to the UK have been successfully allocated to other parts of the country. “We will keep this situation under review but obviously since the floods our focus has to be on supporting our own communities through these difficult times.”

GETTY More than 2,200 residential properties were affected by flooding in South Lakeland

More than 2,200 residential properties were affected by flooding in South Lakeland – with an estimated 1,800 of them in Kendal. It is estimated that on average people waiting for homes to dry out and to have building work done will be out of their homes for six months. Families have been turning to South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) for help to find accommodation while their homes are repaired – but there are no suitable properties. The council has already issued a plea for more offers of “affordable” rented accommodation in the area to help the food-stricken residents. SLDC has offers of temporary accommodation it can use to re-house people in places about 15 miles away – like Ambleside and Grasmere. But local Methodist Church community worker Jonny Gios said the families in greatest need have no transport of their own and must stay in Kendal to get children to school and their jobs. He said: “These are people who have lost virtually everything. “We have upwards of 30 families on our database who need help and, for various reasons they need to stay in the Kendal area.”