Northampton's flood-struck businesses bounce back after days of stripping out water damage

Many businesses in Far Cotton have reopened their doors today after Sunday night's flash floods.

After spending a bank holiday Monday counting the cost of Sunday night's thunderstorms, many independent shops in St Leonard's Road have opened their doors to customers today.

But many shop owners are still reeling from the washout and figuring out how to get their lives back to normal.

Hazel Harris, owner of the Dazels costume store, said: "As I'm going through the shop I'm finding more and more stuff that's ruined. I've had to throw out all my Christmas stock. I was up to 3am washing costumes."

Before and after at the The Great British Munch cafe. Owner Nic said: "Luckily we designed it to be wipe-clean."

Like many shop owners, Hazel is expecting she will have to replace her entire floor. Many other stores have spent the past three days ripping out ruined carpeting and laminate and disinfecting surfaces.

Hazel said: "It's set me back a few grand... I'm annoyed no one has taken responsibility for it yet. [The council] say it wasn't the drains fault but they still turned out to clean them.

"I was told council workers would be coming to talk to us but I haven't seen anyone."

One cafe in St Leonard's - the Great British Munch - only opened five weeks ago but is also assessing their damaged stock.

Owner Nic Farrell said: "We were told this would never happen again because of the flood defences. But then we get this because the drains have been neglected.

"I've had to throw out nearly all my food and one of my fridges is broken. But we designed the shop to be wipe-clean so really we've been extremely lucky.

"Far Cotton is a fantastic community and we can come back from this."

Councillor Phil Larratt, deputy leader of Northampton Borough Council, said: “We are continuing to work with partners to support businesses and residents affected by Sunday’s surface floods.

“Members of the Borough Council, Northamptonshire County Council and Western Power will be on hand in affected areas throughout this week. This includes our crews and neighbourhood wardens who will be helping to clean the streets of debris and remove damaged property. And our food safety team, who will be visiting affected businesses, giving advice and support to enable them to reopen as quickly as possible.”