Shop damaged by flood like 'a scene from Titanic'

A barbershop was left looking like a “scene from the Titanic” after recent flood damage caused by Storm Bert, its owner has said.

A huge clean-up operation is under way in Chippenham, Wiltshire, where businesses are working hard to dry out their premises and reopen as soon as possible.

“We’ll get everything out, we’ll hose it to death and then we’ll work backwards and see what’s salvageable and take it from there,” said Gary Hatto of G Hatto Barbershops.

Chippenham was submerged in flood water on Monday with roads and schools shut after it was battered by the storm.

“Everything that was three or four foot up including the sofas was floating from front to back like a scene from the Titanic,” Mr Hatto told the BBC.

“We’ll do the best as we can as soon as we can. We’ll be open in a couple of days, hopefully.”

Becky Lyons, who owns Pawesome Pets in the town, said there was water “up to the door” yesterday and they were “unable to get in".

“The first job now is to go through the stock and see how much I’ve lost," she said. "Most of it today is going to be cleaning up the mud.

“My tills are down because we have no electricity but we still have stock, so I’m going to use my portable card machine and we’ll just wing it.

“When it rains I’ll have sleepless nights when I see the river that high again.”

Wiltshire Council is urging businesses affected by flooding to get in touch with the local authority.

Council leader Richard Clewer told BBC Radio Wiltshire: "We’ve dealt with the flooding itself, that’s now receding. We now move into recovery.

"The first thing we need to do is find out who’s been flooded, so if you’ve been affected please get in touch with us."

Mr Clewer said the support for businesses and residents would come from central government.

"They will be announcing that - based on previous flooding events - in the next couple of days, and that support will then be channelled to those who have been affected," he continued.

"But you need to tell us and don’t wait."

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