Update: Dam stabilised amid flood fears

Engineers battling to stop millions of gallons of water reaching a dam have said the situation is "critical but stable". Around 70 firefighters and engineers have been working on Ulley Dam, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, since Monday evening to try and alleviate the situation. Meanwhile hundreds of people living downstream from the 36-acre reservoir have been evacuated as a precaution and a stretch of the nearby M1 in South Yorkshire has been closed. Speaking near the scene of the operation Adam Wilkinson, the strategic director for environment and development for Rotherham Council, said the teams have managed to stabilise the situation by pumping out as much water as was coming in via brooks and streams. Mr Wilkinson said the next stage was to try to increase the number of pumps to relieve the pressure on the dam by lowering the water level. More than 700 residents have been evacuated from their homes downstream of the reservoir - but he was unable to give any assurances as to when they would be able to return. He said: "The situation is critical and we will know more when we can pump more water out to relieve pressure on the dam. We're hopeful it will hold and we're doing everything in our power to make sure it does. There is more rain forecast and that, of course, presents us with further problems." (MSN News)