Overview

• Assistant coroner recorded that Maureen Gilbert, 83, died from drowning after the River Rother burst its banks in October 2023.
• Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said a request to revisit her property was mislogged when control-room systems failed.
• Incident commander Neil Porteous testified he sought a reinspection after crews deemed a night-time entry too dangerous; managers conceded "we fell short."
• Environment Agency witness Neil Longden said the street had no formal protection and that funding and planning could block a technically feasible scheme.
• The court heard a 2018 storage reservoir was the only major step since 2007, as Storm Babet brought record three-day rainfall and prompted about 400 evacuations in Chesterfield.