This is Somerset -- An Environment Agency worker has become so popular because of his relentless hard work during the floods he has his own fan page on Twitter. Dave Throup, area manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, has won praise from locals for helping them hold back the tide of rising water. Now the Twitter profile @DaveThroupFans has been set up - racking up 618 fans in 18 hours - along with a Facebook page. Messages tweeted from the account include: "Dave Throup, the 4th emergency service" and "Dave Throup, the hardest working public servant in the world. #Needsaholiday." Another said: "Superman is miffed that Dave has knocked him off the top spot. #localsuperhero #floods #Worcester #Hereford #Wye." Messages of praise include Ross-on-Wye councillor Richard Mayo, who tweeted from his handle @CllrMayo: "Dave Throup was just on the BBC, I can go to bed happy now knowing everything is ok @DaveThroupFans #phew #hero" Local reporter @SarahTaylorWN tweeted: "@DaveThroupFans Spotted @DaveThroupEA at Worcester Bridge this morning. I made sure to curtsey." Tweeter user @thebigpeasy wrote: "@DaveThroupFans Dave declined the offer to appear on the next series of Celebrity Big Brother as it required him taking a day off work." Another tweeter @neilJwatts wrote: "@DaveThroupFans I've heard Dave can do one-armed press ups on the top of flood defences while singing the national anthem backwards."Legend @DaveThroupEA fan club @DaveThroupFans has hit 500 followers, rising faster than the local rivers pic.twitter.com/rrkM2PTwn4
— Marcus Green (@MarcusInStroud) February 11, 2014
The real Dave Throup tweets from @DaveThroupEA and has thousands more followers - a total of 6,231. In response to one fan asking what he thought about the page he tweeted: "He's slightly embarrassed but very proud! I'm just doing my job and a lot of people are suffering." Reported by This is 21 hours ago.