Husband and wife stuck in hotel as Northamptonshire village home flooded after heavy rainfall

Rain and storms battered the town across the week, prompting the Met Office to issue a number of yellow and amber warnings.

People are still affected by the devastation caused when the River Nene burst its banks and flooding began in Northamptonshire.

A week after being forced to leave their homes, some still stay in temporary housing.

Brian Thomas walked down the stairs of his house in Kislingbury at 4.30am on Monday (September 23) while his cats were going upstairs.

A few hours after returning from the hospital to see his wife, the 65-year-old man discovered the ground floor of his house under three inches (about eight cm) of water.

Brian said: “We're trying to hold on to a cheerful face.

“She's feeling a bit ok. She can walk a bit, but not too much. She's trying to show a brave face.”

The flooded house left the husband and wife with ruined carpets and a damaged fireplace, among other things.

“At the moment there's no actual support,” said Brian.

Following Brian's wife's release from the hospital last Thursday, September 26, after suffering a fall over the weekend, the husband and wife have been staying at a nearby Premier Inn.

“We're hoping to get back into our house as soon as possible.

“We've been lucky because this time around it wasn’t the same height as it was in 1998. So the actual flood defences have worked. (...) It's still bad,” said Brian.

The road between the Kislingbury roundabout and Upton was closed overnight (Monday, September 23) due to flooding in roads surrounding the A4500.

A council meeting was held in The Guildhall, Northampton, on Thursday, September 26.

The chairman of the Kislingbury Parish Council, Doctor Jonathan Hughes, said during the meeting that the High Street in Kislingbury is “heavily used by lorries,” and vehicles were driving through the flood both before and after the High Street was closed by the Fire and Rescue Service.

Brian said: “It just seems to be an ongoing thing.

“Every time we get flooded, you try and close the road, and the lorries just reopen the road and drive through.”

Brian criticised the council by claiming that the area's drains are not being adequately maintained. He called for dredging of the river, improved flood defences, a drainage system, and an embankment.

“Our little village never gets mentioned,” said Brian.

Seven West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) pumping vehicles attended and assured that the water was removed in Kislingbury, according to Dr Jonathan Hughes.

“We are trying to get WNC to recognise how the flooding in Kislingbury intersects with planning applications and with traffic issues, and we hope that this correspondence will develop the working relationship between WNC and Kislingbury Parish Council.

“It is totally predictable that Kislingbury will experience similar events in the near future,” said Dr Hughes during the council meeting.

Northamptonshire was among the 10 counties that saw its wettest September since records began in 1836. The county recorded more than three times their average September rainfall.

Brian hopes to return home with his wife early next week.

WNC has been contacted for comment.