Firefighters may get 'flood bus'

A "flood bus" which has come to the rescue of locals wanting a tipple could also be brought in to help the Shropshire Fire Service.

The former French army vehicle, dating back to the 1960s, has been bought by John Bewley, landlord of The Royal Hill pub in Edgerley, near Melverley, to ferry his customers to and fro in times of flooding.

It could now be used by the fire service to assist in taking personnel and equipment through floodwater in an emergency.

Mr Bewley said: "It does effect us quite badly. We were cut off for two weeks before Christmas and we had a lot of cancellations of Christmas parties because people couldn't get to the pub.

"With the floods, we never know when they are coming and when they are going down, so we have got to run our business around an unpredictable event."

But when Mr Bewley heard a local farmer was selling the vintage vehicle, which can travel through 4ft of water, he snapped it up at a cost of £1,250.

He has now put a board up where the flood water ends, telling motorists aiming for the pub to phone him and he will go and pick them up and take them back.

Mr Bewley also helps other members of the community during the floods.

Jim Labouchardiere, incident commander at Shrewsbury fire station, was so impressed with the vehicle, he is now looking at the possibility of utilising it for firefighters who might struggle to get through the flood water to an incident in the area.

"The whole area around there is prone to flooding and lots of roads do get cut off," he said.

"We would have a problem if we had a fire.

"Our vehicles will only go through about 1ft of water."

By Suzanne Roberts