A major clean-up of the Laxey river and residents’ homes has begun.

Manx Utilities staff and local people began removing debris and thick sludge from around the area of Glen Road brought in by flash flooding on Tuesday.

Soggy carpets and furniture was thrown out the front doors of homes and debris, gravel and shale that caused a blockage on a historical weir were removed from Laxey river.

The digger that had been left in the river was also in the process of being taken out by a team using another digger on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle visited the homes of residents after flying back to the island earlier than planned as he was attending the Conservative party conference in Manchester.

Resident Richard Kneen confronted the Chief Minister with concerns about the lack of action over the years to avoid a flooding situation from happening.

Talking about the weir to the politician, he said: ’It’s an eyesore and how that’s historical, I don’t know. It’s a piece of concrete.’

He also expressed frustrations about a contractor being put in place ’in the flood season and knocking the main wall down’.

’We need somebody to take responsibilty because it cannot happen again. People are devastated.’ he added.

After his tour around the water logged homes and river, Mr Quayle called it ’devastating’.

He told the press that he would be attending an emergency meeting to discuss how to make the area ’as safe as possible’ and create an action plan.

’Clearly more needs to be done and we need to learn from this,’ he said.

He added that he accepted premium would be added to property insurance in the area and that it will be ’something we’ll work on’.

The Chief Minister said he was impressed to hear stories about island residents offering hospitality to those affected by the flooding.

Also present to assess the damage and listen to the concerns of residents were Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer, Manx Utilities chairman Alex Allinson, Garff MHKs Martyn Perkins and Daphne Caine and Garff Commissioners.