A cafe and sandwich bar closed by floodwater now has only a rising tide of customers to deal with.

Back in business - Shivaun Webber tastes the fare at Dagwoods sandwich shop in Halstead. Picture: STEPHANIE MACKRILL (20186-a)

Dagwoods, in Bridge Street, Halstead, was flooded out when the River Colne burst it banks during last October's freak rainstorms.

But its owners took advantage of their enforced 4-month closure to refit the premises in an airy modern style.

The cafe also now offers a wider range of food and hopes to launch a home delivery service soon.

Dagwoods takes its name from a type of large American club sandwich - owner Gina Jupp's father ran a cafe in Sudbury during the war and picked up the formula from American servicemen who requested a Dagwood.

Mrs Jupp said: "We're not going to break what's already fixed. It's working really well and we've had so many people saying they've missed us."

Published Thursday, March 14, 2002