An Israeli humanitarian aid agency has flown a team into Britain to help people flooded in the north of England, it emerged today.

IsraAID flew in a four person team to help rebuild homes and distribute supplies in Leeds after the city was flooded in a Christmas deluge.

The charity, which does most of its work in developing countries, confirmed to MailOnline the work was the first time they have deployed to Britain.

The four person IsraAID team headed to Leeds which saw its city centre deluged when the River Aire broke its banks following record breaking rainfall last month

IsraAID have responded to 10 disasters triggered by tornadoes and flooding in the United States.

Shachar Zahavi, founding director of IsraAid, told the Jewish Chronicle: 'The team have already met with small independent initiatives across the north that are delivering food, gutting houses, and helping to rebuild their homes.

'Our volunteers will assist with the current effort being carried out and use our experience in these disasters to work out what more we can do and how.'

He continued: 'We have responded to 10 floods and tornado disasters in the US and when we saw what was happening to the UK in the news it looked worse than ever before.

'We wanted to show the community we would be there for them.'

He said: 'We got in touch with the Jewish communities around the north of England and they told us about the independent NGOs working on the ground.

'We contacted them and arranged to send our team to help they said yes and here we are.'

Mr Zahavi added: 'The first team were greeted by locals with open hands and are now mapping the workloads which would include distribution of goods and gutting houses helping people repair their homes.

On New Year's Eve Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited Leeds after the flooding, including a stop at new business The Climbing Lab , which had its plans set back by flooding

'We have another team of five waiting to be sent from Israel we just have to assess where they are most needed and what is the best thing we can do to help.'

The River Aire in Leeds hit record levels in the storms, leaving hundreds of homes flooded.

Judith Blake, the leader of Leeds City Council, said last month the authority had warned the Government that flooding in Leeds was a 'catastrophe waiting to happen'.

Ms Blake called for 'significant investment' in additional flood defences for the city to prevent future flooding.

She said: 'The cost of the damage caused by this event will be considerable and if ever the evidence was needed that cities like Leeds must have the best possible comprehensive flood defences, this is it.

'The council warned the Government, after several near-misses in recent years, that a major flood in Leeds was a catastrophe waiting to happen but the response was slow and not the level of investment we know the city needs for it to be fully protected.

'While now is the time to focus on the wellbeing of our residents and the condition of their properties and possessions, we will again be calling on the Government for further significant investment in additional flood defences for Leeds.