Cambridgeshire flooding: Alconbury and Ramsey significantly affected

Several flood warnings are in place in Cambridgeshire after heavy rainfall left some roads impassable.

The fire and rescue service received 336 flood-related calls, with Alconbury and Ramsey being the hardest-hit areas.

The A14 was shut between Thrapston in Northamptonshire and Ellington in Cambridgeshire but is now set to re-open.

Westbound Junction 22 to 18 will remain closed due to flooding, said the Highways Agency.

Group commander Simon Thompson, from the fire service, asked people to "stay at home if they possibly can".

"We appreciate people have got places to go but we are starting to see quite a number of incidents where people are getting trapped within flood water," he said.

Mr Thompson said a "major incident" of widespread flooding across the county was declared at about 18:00 GMT on Wednesday.

"Within Ramsey we had approximately 70 properties that were affected by flooding and Alconbury has experienced some significant impact," he said.

"They're the two main areas we have been focused on, however we have experienced widespread impact."

He added the service's "thoughts go out to everybody that's been affected... certainly at this particular time of year it's absolutely devastating for those people".

Patrick Lloyd, 27, from Peterborough, said much of his home had been submerged in water, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

He added he had helped to rescue an elderly neighbour who was trapped without power. She was eventually taken to hospital after spending about 50 minutes in the "freezing" floodwater, he said.

The St Ives branch of fast food chain McDonald's has also been forced to close because of flooding.

A spokeswoman said it had "affected the whole of Abbey Retail Park and although we are working hard to reopen, the severity of flooding means this could take at least a week".

One resident of Ramsey, Gary, said the gardens on his road started to flood and "within the space of half an hour or so my wife was telling me it was coming into the kitchen, coming through to the lounge".

"All the water was coming in torrents from the top of the cul-de-sac and going straight down all the terraced houses and some of them, I would imagine, are under at least 2-3ft (60cm-90cm) of water."

Ramsey resident Stuart Searle said that while some waters had come into his garden, the golf course to the rear of his home had been "completely flooded".

"We've been here for four years and first time I've seen it like that. It's seriously affecting the village," he said.

Stuart Scott, the Professional Golfers' Association professional at the golf club, said in parts the water was about 8ft (2.4m) deep on the course.

He said they expected flooding in some areas of the course during heavy rainfall, but added: "This has actually broken the flood bank, so it's come over to part of the golf course that shouldn't really have water on it."

Police have also advised drivers to take care, and uploaded pictures to social media of crashed cars overnight as a warning to other motorists.

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