Maureen with rescuee Fudge

When a dam threatened to burst in Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire in August 2019, 1500 people had to leave their homes at once. If the Toddbrook Reservoir broke free, the village would be levelled in seconds – but P3 Support Worker Maureen Wild knew what she had to do.

“I couldn’t leave the cats!” she cried. “So many people were at work when we were all told to leave immediately, with no warning, and they wouldn’t be able to return to get anything, anything at all. I’m born and bred here, so I knew we’d be washed away if the dam burst – and I had to get the cats!”

After telling her brother, who lives across the road, to leave at once, Maureen rushed up and down her street collecting her neighbours’ cats, as well as her own three (Forbes, Titch and their mother Bella). Then, once her Ford Focus was full – with four humans and 12 felines – she drove for high ground.

“I had no boxes or anything,” she recalled. “The cats were just loose in the car, all over the dashboard, in the boot. There were police everywhere and they just looked at me and didn’t say anything as I made for a nearby hill. I had no idea what I was going to do with the cats but I knew them all, I knew their owners would be so worried. Perhaps I really am a crazy cat lady, as I could have been washed away myself, but I couldn’t leave them!”

Maureen did make one brief stop on the way – to her grandmother’s nearby grave, to pick up a decorative pot to use as a water bowl for the furry rescuees. “I knew Grandma would approve,” she said.

Once they were all in safety, the cats were housed in a friend’s garage and Maureen registered their details with local services so that they could be accounted for and collected by their humans.

“I knew all their names already,” Maureen said. “People were ringing the police saying they needed to get their cats. One copper was on the radio and said, ‘Don’t worry about Truffles, Truffles is in Maureen’s car!’”

Thankfully, the dam did not break, although it was close; it had partially collapsed, with its spillway damaged by heavy rain. Emergency crews pumped the reservoir to reduce the water levels and an RAF Chinook helicopter dropped sandbags and aggregate into the spillway to strengthen it. But it was a week before residents were able to return to their houses, during which time many of them had to sleep in their cars.

“At one point, the emergency services thought they would have to wipe out 200 houses to pump the water quickly enough to save all the others,” Maureen said. “That would have included mine and my brother’s. But we said, if that’s what you have to do to save the rest of the village, do it. Luckily, they found an alternative.”

An official report found that the dam’s partial collapse had been caused by poor design and lack of maintenance. The Canal and River Trust, which owns the dam, has now applied to build a replacement in a two-year project that will cost between £12 million and £16 million.

“So we hope that should be it,” Maureen said. “But if it happens again, I’ll do it again. I won’t leave the cats!”

As you can imagine, Maureen received huge thanks from her grateful neighbours. And, of course, meow-sive gratitude from Truffles, Boo, CJ, Fudge, Smudge, Bella, Forbes, Titch, Weeble, Toffee, Salem and Paws!