The Pike & Eel Hotel and Marina closes after it's surrounded by water

Venue owner Raju Karania said he hoped to reopen next weekend

A hotelier was forced to close after flood water surrounded his venue and splashed against the front door.

Raju Karania, owner of The Pike & Eel Hotel and Marina, in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, said water had also started to seep inside.

A flood alert for the River Great Ouse, from Brampton to Earith, was in place on Saturday.

"I'm not sure if the water will keep rising, it's really bad," Mr Karania said.

The businessman said the hotel, which has 15 rooms and can cater for up to 250 restaurant guests, was closed as it could not operate in the circumstances.

Hotel staff have been putting sandbags in place to keep the flood water at bay

He claimed the flooding was worse than in December 2020, when more than 200 homes were flooded across the county.

"We are putting sandbags up and seeing what happens," Mr Karania told the BBC.

"I hope the water level will start going down now and hopefully we will reopen next weekend.

"It's frustrating but what can you do? It's one of those things - we're on a floodplain."

Cambridgeshire County Council said it was monitoring the situation and would respond as required.

They encouraged people to report flooding via its website and follow its traffic account on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the latest updates.