Request sandbags

You are responsible for protecting your own property and business. If you think you are in a high risk area you should make appropriate arrangements in advance of a flood.

We work with local communities to help them set up and manage their own sandbag stores. We have various stores across North Yorkshire.

Get sandbags from a community sandbag store

If you arrive at a community sandbag store and there are no sandbags please contact us on 0300 131 2 131 and we will look to provide further support.

If there are no community sandbags stores near you, and you are in a priority or vulnerable group, you can contact us to request sandbags on 0300 131 2 131. Please say 'sandbags' if prompted. We will try to help if we can.

We give priority to sandbag requests for:

1. Vulnerable individuals, the elderly and infirm
2. Hospitals, care homes and schools at risk of internal flooding
3. Council buildings and critical infrastructure
4. Homes
5. Business and other non-residential properties (in extreme circumstances only)

We can’t guarantee that we can help or give you sandbags. There is no statutory requirement for us to provide sandbags.

We can’t provide sandbags to protect gardens, garages and other non-residential properties – only for occupied homes at imminent danger of internal flooding.

We can’t provide sandbags in anticipation of flooding, following advance weather forecasts.

Used sandbags

We won’t normally collect sandbags from your property. You should arrange to dispose of them yourself. You can:

• keep the sandbag to use again
• cut open a sandbag and tip the contents away into your garden

Dirty, soiled or contaminated sandbags should be taken to your nearest household waste recycling centre. Please ask a member of staff where to dispose of contaminated sandbags.