FIREFIGHTERS spent more than 12 hours pumping flood water out of six cottages in Warboys after last Thursday s (August 6) downpours, which saw a month s rain fall in just a few hours. Householders were left facing flood water and sewage in their homes. V

FIREFIGHTERS spent more than 12 hours pumping flood water out of six cottages in Warboys after last Thursday's (August 6) downpours, which saw a month's rain fall in just a few hours.

Householders were left facing flood water and sewage in their homes.

Valerie Carr, 43, of Fenton Road, said was exhausted when she described the scene to The Hunts Post on Friday morning.

She said: "I am very tired. I have been up all night.

"It started with the persistent rain on Thursday. I kept an eye on the flood waters to the rear of our properties and the water levels went from about an inch-and-a-half to five or six inches, and into our homes within the space of about 20 minutes.

"I have had a minimal amount of water in my house but still sufficient that I think my kitchen base units, skirting boards and downstairs bathroom will all be damaged. It's the fact that it is sewage coming into our homes that is worse."

Mrs Carr explained that she and her neighbours were "strongly convinced" that the flood was caused by a blocked drain.

She said: "It has happened before, in October 2001, and we had fire crews with us then for 12 hours. This time it is worse. It seems there is a drain outside of the properties' boundaries that is blocked."

Fire crews from Ramsey arrived at the scene, in the centre of the village, at 10.15pm on Thursday and were later replaced by Huntingdon crews.

Mrs Car said: "They have been absolutely fantastic, they really have. They are retained firefighters and have been brilliant."

Ramsey fire station manager Callum Faint, who attended the incident, said: "We must have pumped hundreds of litres of water away from the affected houses. Six houses were affected in total, all sustained minor flooding. The houses were at the top of a hill but were slightly sunk into the ground so the water was rolling down into their rear gardens. Fortunately no electrics were damaged."

A spokesman for Anglian Water said: "Surface water did overwhelm the drainage system. All our pumps were working fine and we didn't know of any blockages in the sewers. We tried to reduce the water levels in the drainage system and sent lorries to pump water out and take it to the treatment works. It may be that people have seen the lorries and pipes and assumed there must be a blockage.

"It's not often you see this volume of rain and not often that the drains are filled to capacity.