A month since floods swept the area, Janet and John Casey, landlords of The Golden Fleece in Shaw, are still trying to rebuild their business.

Water poured into the pub in Folly Lane, wreaking thousands of pounds worth of damage.

The bar area, furniture and carpet are all having to be replaced as well as the whole pub repainted. It took three hours for the couple to sweep all the water out and10 hours for the carpet to be removed.

Mrs Casey said: “I’ve never seen a thunderstorm like that before. We had four inches of water coming in from all directions.”

The couple had planned to re-open the pub this month but are now aiming for the beginning of November.

“Trade was just picking up nicely, we had worked hard to build it up,” Mrs Casey said.

“We are hoping that it’s not going to be a setback for Christmas and we’ve carried on taking Christmas bookings.”

Dehumidifiers are currently drying the pub out and the couple have taken on the task of doing all the repair work themselves so they can get the pub open as soon as possible.

Mr Casey does not think flooding will be a problem for the pub in the future.

He said: “I think it was just a one-off. I don’t think we will ever have rain like that again.”

Earlier this month, at a meeting held by Melksham Without Parish Council, more than 250 residents gathered to discuss the damage that had been caused and how it can be prevented in future.

A drainage engineer from Wiltshire Council was also there and the next step will involve the council analysing the findings and investigating what action can be taken to rectify the situation.

The Parish Council are also drawing up their own flood plan and the council will be providing sandbags and equipment to help in the event of more wet weather.

They hope people whose homes are not affected by flooding will volunteer as flood wardens in future emergencies.