Many residents in Aldbourne have been forced to abandon their houses because of flooding.

The most severely affected roads in the village are Lottage Road and West Street. Pauline and Brian Warneford, of West Street, have lived in their house for four years and have never had a problem with flooding before. They first discovered water in their home in the early hours of Friday morning when the electricity went.

Mrs Warneford, 57, said: "My husband noticed his clock had stopped at about four in the morning so he went down stairs to flick the trip switch and the floor was squelching.

"It's been a nightmare.The worst part is not knowing what to do but our neighbours have been a fantastic help.

"We don't know when it's going to stop and we've found out that we're not covered by the insurance because it only covers flood damage if the water comes into the house not if it comes up the through the floors.

"We've had to take it in shifts to monitor the pumps so we've hardly had any sleep.

"The house was built in 1760 and nobody has any recollection of it flooding before which shows just how bad the weather is."

The Post Office has been pumping out 2000 litres of water from its well every minute since Thursday evening.

Sue Rendell, who owns the Post Office, said: "We've had to keep pumping the water because if we didn't the road outside the shop would be flooded.

"A lot of the houses in Aldbourne have wells but it's a lot worse for those who don't.

"Unfortunately it's just a freak of nature and nobody could have done anything to stop it."

Today Thames Water and Wiltshire Council have been in the village trying to alleviate the problem.

Aldbourne councillor James Shepard said: "What is good is that the council have been out here today but our main problem is stopping traffic driving through the village at inappropriate speeds."

She explained the cars driving fast forces the flood water to spray up and into homes.

Coun Shepard: "The water is not drinkable but it is not polluted. People just have to make sure they wash their hands and their boots."