Highley couple face six-month wait to return to flood-hit home

Jackie Desai-Gale and her husband Terry moved to Highley when they retired

A couple who had to leave their home when it flooded at the start of the year believe it could be six months before they can move back in.

Jackie Desai-Gale from Highley in Shropshire said the clean-up process had been "a bit of a struggle".

She and her husband Terry moved into the property in December 2022 and she added: "We've not ever seen anything like this before."

The couple are waiting to hear if their insurer will pay for the work.

Their home was flooded by about a metre (3ft) of water and as a result, Mrs Desai-Gale said they would need to replace their floors and kitchen and re-plaster the walls.

"We're just finding it all very slow, very trying, there's lots to do," she said.

"I'm looking around my property at the moment and I'm thinking 'how do you fix this?'"

The couple said they were "heartily fed up" of flooding in their home

The couple bought the property as a retirement home and Mrs Desai-Gale said: "We expected this to be the better side of life, we expected this to be our relaxing time and it's not happening."

She said her husband, who is 73, just wanted to enjoy the garden and going on walks, but instead: "Every day there is something else that he's got to think about."

"It's not fair," she said.

Possessions are still stacked up at the couple's home while they wait for it to be fixed

A surveyor has been to visit their property and their insurers have been contacted, but she asked: "What price do you put on misery, how do you measure that?"

Until their home is fixed, the couple are staying with friends, but Mrs Desai-Gale said: "It's going to take six months before I can even think about moving ourselves back into here."