Storm Babet: Flood wrecks woman's home after £40,000 refurbishment

A woman's home was devastated by flooding during Storm Babet just months after she moved in following a £40,000 renovation.

Vicky Hallam spent a year restoring her home in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, and said she had been left "heartbroken" by the destruction.

She had invited an estate agent to value the property on Friday morning but an hour and a half later, it was submerged in flood water.

She said she feared she would drown.

Ms Hallam, 63, said: "My furniture was floating around and I've got my microwave in my arms and stuff was hitting my legs, and I got frightened.

"I thought, because I've got a balance problem, and if something knocked me over and then something hits me on the head, I'm going to drown."

The NHS support worker who moved into the home, previously owned by her mother, two months ago, said: "I had an estate agent out on Friday morning.

"She took all the pictures of [my home] and she said, 'I can't believe what you've done to it. It's absolutely beautiful. I love it, you've made such a good job with it'.

"Then within an hour and a half, it was underwater."

She said the renovation included re-wiring and re-plastering the home, as well as building a new bathroom and kitchen.

"I'm devastated. There's just no words, there's nothing. I'm absolutely heartbroken," Ms Hallam said.

"It's my childhood home. We lost my mum two years ago and I decided I wanted to come back here and I couldn't bear the thought of someone else living in it."

Ms Hallam, who is now staying with her sister, said she had "no other choice" but to renovate the home again after selling her old house and spending the inheritance she received following her mother's death.

Her daughter, Emily Hallam, 29, has launched an online appeal hoping to raise £1,000 to help her mother to rebuild her life.

Vicky, who lives in Greenwood Vale in the town, said: "Where most of the water came from, which was up Greenwood Vale, it's never as much as been a puddle up there before, but it was coming down there like a river."

Ms Hallam claimed floodgates located in nearby Dob Park, were not closed to stop the flood water.

She has demanded answers from the local authority, Ashfield District Council.

She said: "I'd like to know what happened, why it happened, and what [the council] is going to do to stop it from happening in the future and who's responsible for those floodgates."

John Wilmott, councillor for the Hucknall North ward, said about 40 properties were affected by the flooding and that environment teams would visit homes to remove damaged furniture and debris.

He said: "Our housing teams and community protection officers have been visiting tenants and private properties to identify any immediate risks or urgent needs.

"Ashfield District Council will be providing a roving waste collection team to targeted streets in Hucknall to allow flood-affected properties to dispose of damaged furniture, this Saturday.

"We will also be sending letters out to all properties with support and guidance on what their next steps are."

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