A landlord today told how he lost a whole day's trade after six feet of flood water deluged into his cellar.

Fred Spring, of the Cricketers pub in London Road, Westcliff, said: "It has been terrible. We couldn't open on Saturday because there was so much water in the cellar. The boiler was covered. The fire service had to pump us out.

"This part of the road has always been prone to flooding and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. But I've lived in this area since 1947 and I've never seen flooding like this before."

However, the pub still managed to open as usual yesterday. Mr Spring said: "The electrician checked everything in the morning. We were lucky really."

He said other parts of London Road were without power after water got into a fuse box and that at the Essex Furniture Showroom the water came up to the window sill. He said the road was "chaos" but it was kept open.

He was looking on the positive side though - "We are insured," he said. "Nobody was hurt and that's the important thing."

Published Monday August 12, 2002

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