Brian and Nicky Teeder spent most of Tuesday cleaning up after their mill home in Whistley Lane, Potterne, was flooded following Monday night’s torrential rain.

The couple, who have lived at Whistley Mill for 14 years, are concerned floods will become more frequent unless action is taken on rainwater run-off.

Mr Teeder, a semi-retired consultant on aviation safety, said: “We were flooded out just before Christmas two years ago and we didn’t want a repeat of that.”

The two streams that run through the garden at the 300-year-old former mill overflowed their banks and the water was soon 18 inches deep around the house.

Mr Teeder fitted their tailor-made flood gates – commissioned after the last flooding – to both front and back doors, but the water still managed to permeate into the house through minor cracks and up through the floorboards.

At one point there were two inches of water in the house.

Devizes fire crews did their best to prevent more water seeping into the house and also brought in an industrial vacuum cleaner to remove water from inside the house.

Mr Teeder said: “I can’t praise the fire service too much. They were excellent. They did a lot to prevent anything worse happening to our house.”

The couple’s son Jon and their eight-year-old granddaughter Shannon also live at the house. Shannon slept through the whole thing.

The Teeders believe that increasing residential development is causing the problem.

Mr Teeder said: “This problem really started when they built the new houses at Drews Pond. The run-off from there is tremendous.

“Now they are planning even more houses in Potterne.

“It used to be the county council that was responsible for keeping the culverts and drains clear but now it is the responsibility of individual landowners and I don’t know who they all are.”