Worried residents spoke of their fears in the week of the first anniversary of the disaster, which left deluged hundreds of homes with filthy flood water.

"I've got visions they will take me out of here in a box," said mum-of-two Sally Breeze, who lives in Catcliffe on the border of Sheffield and Rotherham.

Her dream starter home nestling in the village was changed irreversibly by the floods into the place where she may have to spend the rest of her life - like it or not.

The 39-year-old playgroup assistant said: "If I could pick my house up and move it then I would but we are stuck here. I don't think I could leave here whether I wanted to or not. Nobody would buy these houses down here now and I'm gutted."

Sally, who lived for months in a caravan with children Thomas, 15, and Rebecca, 14, before moving in with her mum, added: "Every time it rains you only have to look out of the window and you see other neighbours are the same. We are all on tenterhooks.

"I think it will happen again and that's horrible to live with."

Market trader Allan Richmond and his wife Lillian's retirement plans fell apart when their home on Hooton Road, Kilnhurst - just yards from the River Don - was devastated in last year's floods.

The couple, both 62, hoped to sell their detached home, downsize and use the equity to enjoy travelling the world.

But Allan said: "Our idea was to sell up and downsize once I finished work - but all that has changed. The flood had virtually made my home worthless. Who is going to buy it now? We have loved living here but last year it all turned into a nightmare for us."

Mum-of-two Uzma Iffat, whose home on Falding Street, Chapeltown, where she lives with her husband and young son and daughter was devastated by the floods, has also abandoned hopes of selling up and moving.

She said: "We're keeping our fingers crossed it won't happen again. But that's all we can do. There's no hope of moving - there're three or four houses on the street that have been for sale for ages and they aren't shifting."

Jon and Andrea Smith, of Wombwell, near Barnsley, said two neighbouring houses which had been on the market at about £180,000 before the floods were revalued at £130,000 to £140,000 in the immediate aftermath.

The housing market gloom comes as Sheffield has been refused £20 million worth of funding for flood prevention work at Blackburn Brook and Porter Brook which were identified as high risk.

But the Environment Agency, which assessed areas then passed the information to the Government to decide where cash will go, claims the city does not meet its criteria.

Council Leader Paul Scriven said: "I am writing to the Environment Agency to ask them to urgently re-consider their position so the people of Sheffield get the support they are entitled to."

Environment Agency Area Manager Phil Younge said: "Funding is limited. Potential flood schemes are compared around the country using a scoring system that takes into account flood risk, social and economic factors."

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