Plans to demolish all Tapton Terrace homes after woman’s flood death

Every house on a street where an 83-year-old woman drowned after water filled her home during a flood in Storm Babet could be demolished under new plans.

Maureen Gilbert died after her house in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, was flooded in October 2023 when the nearby River Rother burst its banks.

At an inquest into her death, the coroner said the street – which comprises 26 houses and lies next to the River Rother – was as much of a risk to life as it had been when it first flooded in 2007.

Chesterfield Borough Council and the Environment Agency have said buying and demolishing all 26 homes was the “only effective and viable long-term solution to keep residents safe”.