BRITAIN: Floods inquest told: 'Nobody seemed to know what to do.'.

A PENSIONER who witnessed frantic attempts to rescue a man trapped in raging floodwater told an inquest: "Nobody seemed to know what to do."

Geoffrey Claxton, 76, was giving evidence into the death of Michael Barnett who died during floods which overwhelmed Hull on June 25.

A jury heard how Mr Barnett became trapped in a temporary grille in a storm drain behind the business where he worked in Hessle, just outside the city.

He eventually died from hypothermia following an unsuccessful four-hour operation to free him.

Mr Claxton, whose family owned a nearby tropical fish business, described how he watched as divers, firefighters and local residents battled to pull out the 28-year-old.

He said at one point Mr Barnett went completely underwater as rescuers tried to pull the grille - actually a piece of steel park fencing - with a Land Rover winch.

Divers managed to bring him back above the water which he said was "unbelievable - like Niagara Falls".

Choking back tears, Mr Claxton said neighbours from surrounding houses were helping with the operation, with one man standing on a garage holding a rope.

But he said he had been in the water himself earlier and as he was cold and exhausted he eventually went back to his nearby house. He told the jury: "Everyone was doing what they could to get him out.

"He was visibly shaking with cold. He wasn't saying much by then."

Mr Claxton went on: "There wasn't any organisation as far as I could see. Everybody was doing what they could, but it didn't seem very professional.

"I couldn't understand why they couldn't have put a harness on him and pulled him out. One of the tragedies for me that I can't still get over is the fact that a Sea King (helicopter) flew over us and I felt I could just jump up and catch it."

Mr Claxton said he could not understand why the emergency services didn't bring in heavy plant such as a digger or a lorry crane, all of which were available in the area.

He said the rescuers had two winches available, one on a Land Rover and another on the fire engine.

Mr Claxton said Mr Barnett had been working with him on the morning flooding began.

He said he went to clear debris from the grille, which protects a concrete culvert.

The culvert was originally protected by a steel box grid but this had been removed by a digger during flooding 10 days earlier and replaced as a temporary measure by a piece of fencing in which Mr Barnett became entangled.

Mr Claxton said Mr Barnett came out and physically lifted him off the top of the culvert, saying: "You look absolutely knackered. I'm getting you out of there."

The next time he saw Mr Barnett he was chest-deep in water.

Mr Claxton's son Andrew told the jury he would have risked pulling off Mr Barnett's leg once it was clear he was suffering badly from hypothermia.

He said he told the emergency services continually they needed to lift his employee vertically upwards and needed a crane.

CAPTION(S):

Sky News footage of the tragedy unfolding as rescuers attempted to free Mike Barnett from the drain. Far right, his father, Michael