The chair of a parish council has said 'everybody was upset' during what was a 'very distressing time' when an elderly couple in their car plunged into the River Trent and drowned.
Patricia and John Lillistone, from Lowdham, drowned after their car entered the water at Hoveringham on the evening of Monday, February 1, last year.
An inquest ruled on Thursday (January 27) that their deaths were accidental.
The bodies of Mr and Mrs Lillistone were found following a two-week search, as officers were unable to recover them at first because of how strong the current of the River Trent was at the time.
And Helen Nall, chair of Hoveringham Parish Council, said it was something "that upset everybody" in Hoveringham.
Speaking after the inquest to Nottinghamshire Live, she said: "We offer our condolences to the family.
"We, in Hoveringham, have been affected profoundly by it.
"It's something that upset everybody and our thoughts have been with the family all the way through and what they must have been going through once the recovery operation was ongoing.
"It really was a very distressing time, but hopefully we've shown them that we're doing our very best to put all that right."
To prevent future deaths, the inquest was told how agencies have worked together to increase the number of flood risk signs around the area because of the incident, with higher kerbs set to be installed imminently, and barriers have been considered but dismissed.
Eight-inch kerbs are being introduced in the car park between the asphalt and grass bank, where Mr and Mrs Lillistone left the road, by Hoveringham Parish Council.
Ms Nall said: "I hope that, because so many agencies have been working together to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again, that the family might take comfort from that.
"There has been such a compassionate response to what has been a terrible tragedy from a number of agencies involved.
"The Midlands Angling Society, who own the land, offer up their car park to general public use and maintain it, and the parish council have worked hard to investigate possibilities.
"Bison concrete in Thurgarton have donated the concrete kerbs which will be installed within the next month."
Mrs Lillistone, who died at the age of 82, was a retired nurse. While her husband was a retired civil servant and passed away at the age of 83.
In a tribute released through Nottinghamshire Police last year, the couple were described as "loving, caring parents and grandparents who were always there for family and friends".
"Our family is devastated by the loss of two wonderful people and they will be dearly missed by all. We have many happy memories of our time spent together that we will cherish forever," the family said at the time.
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