The BBC has learned that people from around 5,000 households are still unable to return home after last summer's flooding.

The Dawsons, from Burstwick in East Yorkshire, are one such flood statistic.

"Leaving the house in a dingy was the easy part by comparison."

Sue Dawson's sentiments are no doubt familiar to the thousands who have struggled with the aftermath of the floods.

She can recall the events in June like they were yesterday. The 51-year-old supply teacher said her street became a river, submerging her car and taking over her recently-renovated home.

"We had to climb out of the living room window," she said. "We had no idea of the impact it would have on us as a family and community."

One of the reasons it is so fresh in her mind is that Mrs Dawson, her husband Pete and teenage daughter Claire are still dealing with the fall-out.

Back of the queue

After six weeks in a hotel, they stayed with friends before moving into a rented house in a nearby village in August.

They are not likely to get back into their home for another few months, and Mrs Dawson said they are all feeling "frustrated, angry and let down".

To put it another way, she is battle-weary.

The building work will cost an estimated £40,000 and they also claimed around £12,000 from their contents insurance.

She said they had quickly lined up reputable, local builders but the loss adjustors did not authorise the work until October, and by that time they had gone to the back of the queue.

They still have no kitchen and the walls are breeze blocks, but Mrs Dawson says the work is on hold again because they are fighting with the loss adjustor over whether the staircase needs replaced.

Bureaucracy

Various reasons have been offered as to why so many people are still living in temporary accommodation.

It's been a wet winter and that's hampered the drying-out process; there's been a shortage of skilled tradespeople to carry out the repair work; and the insurance companies have struggled to deal with the influx of claims.

It is the last point which is the most salient for the Dawsons.

They say it has been a bureaucratic headache, particularly dealing with the loss adjustors, who are appointed by the insurance company to assess the damage and manage the claim.

Mrs Dawson said they are now on to their third loss adjustor, albeit from the same company, and they have been forced to "beg for their rent" after it failed to arrive on three occasions.

"No one is ringing us," she said. "I left a message for the loss adjustor and he got back five weeks later. And their last visit was back in July.

"Things have gone from bad to worse and in the middle of all this we're trying to keep our family together and hold down full-time jobs."

Mrs Dawson said her hair has been falling out and her daughter has nightmares.

She said they have retained every receipt and documented every communication but the "nightmare continues".

"We just want to go home," she said. "We have been treated with disdain. They just want us to go away."

Mrs Dawson said on top of all that, companies such as British Gas and TV Licensing continued to send letters demanding payment.

"TV Licensing are threatening to interview us under caution but we've told them to come around and have a look - we have nowhere to plug in a TV," she said wryly.

In response TV Licensing said anyone not watching TV in their home did not need a licence, while British Gas said the Dawsons should contact them immediately to make sure they were billed correctly.

"And of course, the insurance company is still taking our monthly premiums, " added Mrs Dawson.

"When it happened, we thought 'at least we're insured' and that was the best thing about it.

"In fact it turned out to be the hardest thing."