Fears floods claim another victim

It is feared the heavy floods have claimed another victim after a woman's body was pulled out of a fishing lake.

A member of the public spotted the woman's body, who was believed to be in her 30s, in the heavily flooded area of Newark.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said the woman had not yet been formally identified. A post mortem examination will take place in due course to determine the cause of death.

Officers are investigating how the woman came to be in the lake, but are not treating the death as suspicious.

A police source said the woman was reported missing several days ago and officers played down fears her death may be weather related.

As the country braces itself for further torrential downpours over the weekend, with 50mm of rain predicted in some areas, the Prince of Wales visited householders living in one of the areas worst hit by the Yorkshire floods.

After the torrential downpours which swamped Catcliffe, near Rotherham, earlier this week, the Prince was greeted by glorious sunshine as he arrived in the village centre.

After viewing the now more tranquil River Rother, Charles chatted to residents who came out of their sodden houses to talk to him.

Tina Bell, who was the first to talk to the royal visitor, said: "There was so much attention on Catcliffe earlier in the week. It's good that he's come to keep the spotlight here when so much is needed to be done.

"The water only lapped up to my doorstep but I was one of the few lucky ones."

Catcliffe provided some of the iconic images of the floods this week when water up to 9ft deep drenched most of the village.

The village pub, The Plough, appeared in hundreds of pictures with floodwater up to the top of its front door and the phone box outside almost completely covered.

Millions of people watched TV footage of the flooded village where a caravan could be seen bobbing down the street bumping into walls and road signs.

As the Prince worked his way through the people gathered in the centre of the village he met representatives of the emergency services who have been stationed in Catcliffe for the past five days.

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