Baby rescued from car in Somerset floods

Heavy rain caused flooding across Bristol and Somerset on Saturday

A family, including a 12-month-old baby, have been rescued from a car stranded in flood water.

Avon Fire and Rescue service said it had used boats to reach the family who had got trapped overnight on Saturday near Blagdon, south of Bristol.

A fire spokesman said the four occupants of the car had been handed to the ambulance service after the rescue.

In Blue Anchor, near Watchet, boats were also used to rescue six people who were stuck in caravans.

Flooded supermarket

Major routes in Somerset such as the M5 at Taunton, the A303 near Ilminster and the A39 were closed for a time.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue said it had taken more than 500 emergency calls in the past 24 hours.

Avon fire service said it had had a "large volume" of calls, with more than 30 directly related to flooding.

The service said it had spent more than five hours at a supermarket in Thornbury which had become flooded.

Parts of the main railway line between Somerset and Devon are underwater

A spokesman said the Blagdon and Chew Valley areas were worst affected and a number of the calls had been from people trapped in their cars.

The Environment Agency said 18 flood warnings remained in place across Somerset and that the west of the county was particularly badly affected.

'Difficult to operate'

The agency said it had taken up to 30 calls about flooded properties in the area.

Rail services to the South West were badly disrupted because of the flooding.

First Great Western urged people not to travel unless absolutely essential.

On Sunday the rail operator said it was not running any trains past Taunton and replacement buses are becoming difficult to operate in the wet conditions.

Bus services in Bristol, Bath and the surrounding areas were also disrupted because of flooded roads.