'We spent thousands preparing for annual floods'

A couple say they've spent nearly £10,000 adapting their cottage to reduce the damage caused by repeated floods.

Sarah Jackaman and her partner Paul Fairhurst say flooding has become an almost annual event at the property in Montford Bridge, near Shrewsbury.

They have stopped using carpet altogether as part of their anti-flooding hacks.

Preparation, they add, is key when it comes to living with flooding and they encourage other at-risk households to have a plan - which they deploy on a room-by-room basis.

There is a brook to the front and rear of the property that swells and bursts its banks when, they believe, the Vyrnwy becomes swollen.

While they have lived there for about 20 years, flooding has become an annual event since 2020 - a pattern roughly in line with homes regularly blighted elsewhere in the region, including those in the catchment of the Severn and Wye; events that have been linked to climate change.

Mr Fairhurst said: "When Sarah and I first got together she told me the property flooded and I sort of took that with a pinch of salt until it actually did... it's quite surprising to come downstairs to five, six inches of water through the property."

The couple say that they always keep an eye on the water level gauges that indicate whether they could be due a flood event.

They add they no longer worry about preventing flood water from entering their home and focus instead on minimising the damage.

They have made several physical changes to their property including a membrane wall that protects the older bricks of the cottage which can act like "old sponges".

Mr Fairhurst says the trestles help keep their kitchen appliances dry when water enters the house

"We're about flood management at this property, not prevention," Mr Fairhurst said.

"We've also changed the floor and added porcelain tiles to the kitchen, which are easier to clean. [and we have] a damp-proof membrane and layer of silicon underneath."

He added "We couldn't carpet this place, we couldn't put wooden floors in because they'd be ruined at the first sign of water."

The couple also have a number of trestles which act like stilts for their furniture when the flood water does enter their home.

Ms Jackaman said they were still learning when it came to the best ways to manage flood damage, even after 20 years, but they always encouraged people to have a written plan if their property regularly flooded.

"In each room there's a set plan and you just follow it, so you have confidence that everything is covered."

She added that the plan was almost like a fire drill which could help save time and belongings.

Sarah also suggested that having a constant dialogue with your neighbours could be "absolutely vital" to keeping your properties dry if you knew that a flood was on its way.