A sudden deluge of rain at around 6.30pm left the town’s drainage system unable to cope.

Firefighters were kept busy all evening dealing with reports of flooding.

A family living just off Chubb Hill Road had to have water pumped from their home and an elderly woman in Ruswarp Lane had to have water pumped from her cellar.

In Baxtergate, Mings Palace reported flooding coming into the business from a large puddle in the street. Police were called and a diversion was put in place.

West Cliff Ladies’ Gym on The Esplanade was also affected by the rainfall.

Owner Ruth Christmas said rain came into the gym which is in the basement and there was a bit of a clear-up operation yesterday.

No damage was caused and it was open for business.

Whitby’s Arriva ticket office was also closed due to flooding yesterday, the cellar of the Station Inn in New Quay Road also had to be pumped out by crews from Whitby and Lythe.

And, according to reports, the car park at the back of the HSBC Bank was full of sewage after the rain and allotments off Kirkham Road were flooded too.

Blue watch manager Paul Burnett said he was surprised at the amount of rain.

He said: “It was a heavy downpour for about 10 minutes. The drainage around the town simply couldn’t cope with the volume of water.

“Within a matter of about 10 minutes much of the water had been dispersed through the same drainage.

“The water has disappeared now but there will be a few people with clean-up jobs.”

Mulgrave Road was also turned into a river of sewage with toilet paper, tampons, sanitary towels and excrement washing up to the curb.

Long suffering residents David Mahaffy and his wife Deb of Mulgrave Road watched the sewage bubbling out of a manhole opposite their house.

The same problem happened last Friday and has been going on for at least four years.

Mr Mahaffy said he has sent dozens of letters to Yorkshire Water.

“This is a long-standing long-term problem that Yorkshire Water will not deal with simply because of money,” he said.

“It was coming up over the curb edge and was about four or five inches deep.

“The smell was absolutely disgusting.”

Coun Joe Plant said he was due to meet with Yorkshire Water yesterday to discuss the situation and had emailed them pictures of the mess as evidence.

He has also asked Scarborough Council’s head of technical services John Riby to send a letter to the water authority urgently.

He said: “The results within 10 minutes were incredible.

“Raw sewage was flowing down the road. It was absolutely disgusting.

“Nobody should have to put up with that in this day and age.