Cumbria floods anniversary: Police widow remembers the “knock”

The 70-year-old says she is “full of a mixture of emotions” as she once again reflects on losing her husband.

She said: “I heard a knock at the door, and I can still hear that knock at the door 15 years later.

“It was a normal Friday morning. I couldn’t settle during the night, I don’t know why.

“So I came downstairs, laid the mugs on the table, the usual mundane things you do.”

Answering the door, Hazel remembers: “I knew something was very wrong, I thought it was somebody had brought Bill home.

“I heard a knock, she asked to come in and I said ‘just tell me that he’s alright’.”