YORKSHIRE Water has apologised after admitting a Malton couple’s home was flooded for the sixth time in five weeks because a pump generator was not refuelled.

The company had claimed hundreds of litres of diesel had been taken from the pump which was put in place to prevent sewage flooding the home of Nikki and Karon Hinds in Castlegate, after it failed last week.

But after checking CCTV footage, police concluded there had been no theft and Yorkshire Water admitted the pump’s failure was due to an oversight by contractors.

A spokesman for Yorkshire Water said: “It was never our intention to provide inaccurate information.

“We were misled by our contract partner responsible for managing the pump, who, when challenged, categorically told us that they had refuelled the pump.

“They assumed, based on a number of similar events in the area, that a fuel theft had occurred.”

The spokesman added: “As you would expect, we are extremely disappointed by this and fully recognise the impact this has had on the family and their property.

“It’s particularly frustrating to be let down as for the last few months we’ve had hundreds of colleagues working around the clock.

“Mr and Mrs Hinds have every right to be upset and we’re doing what we can to support them, including working with them to ensure that they are suitably compensated through our contract partners.”

Mr Hinds said Yorkshire Water had now provided two pumps and an engineer was standing by in the event of one of them failing.