Firefighters from Staffordshire and West Midlands offer help with Whaley Bridge dam

A wall of the dam at the reservoir became damaged following flash floods, which caused thousands to be evacuated in nearby Whaley Bridge.

But an RAF Chinook and firefighters using high-volume pumps have been working to drop sandbags on the damaged area and pump water out.

West Midlands Fire Service and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service have been posting on Twitter, updating residents about the work emergency crews have been carrying out, from pumping out water to filling sandbags.

A post from West Midlands Fire Service said on Friday: "Following a national request, we are currently making preparations to send our high volume pump from Sheldon Fire Station and crew to help with the on-going incident in Derbyshire with the partial collapse of the dam at Toddbrook Reservoir."

Sheldon station's watch commander Gemma McSweeney said that a crew was sent on Friday and is expected to stay until at least Monday. She added: "We are one of the several fire and rescue services assisting our colleagues in Derbyshire with the efforts to reduce the water levels in the dam.

"This is part of our national resilience arrangements to assist our colleagues across the country when any type of major incident like this occurs."

On Saturday a West Midlands Fire Service tweet said: "Crews from West Midlands Fire Service continue to support the on-going incident in Derbyshire using our high volume pump and boat teams. Our teams are working alongside various different agencies assisting with pumping hundreds of thousands of litres of water every minute."

And on Sunday a West Midlands Fire Service officer at the scene posted a video showing the water.

He said: "As you can see the overnight operations are more successful with more pumps.

"The level of water has dropped dramatically over the last three and a half days.

"The outcome is currently really good."

Meanwhile Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service tweeted on Thursday saying: "High volume pump and ELS teams en route to assist our colleagues in Derbyshire. Glad to be helping to keep affected communities safe."

And on Friday another post said: "Our Enhanced Logistical Support & High Volume Pump teams continue to assist @DerbyshireFRS throughout this weekend as they work with @HVPCapability teams from across country & other agencies to support the communities in & around #WhaleyBridge. @NFCC_FireChiefs."

A video of a helicopter working on the site was posted with a comment saying: "Impressive skill being demonstrated by pilots & crews of helicopters dropping bags of ballast precisely onto the #ToddbrookReservoir dam."

On Sunday morning crews said that after a "long night pumping water" they needed to relocate their High Volume Pump.

Toddbrook Reservoir is on the north-west edge of the Peak District National Park and was built in 1831, according to experts, although the Environment Agency record it as being built in 1840-41.

The structure supplies water to the Peak Forest Canal, a waterway running between the town and Ashton under Lyne, Greater Manchester.