County facing flood clean-up
Bridgnorth and south Shropshire were today counting the cost of the worst flash floods in living memory - which could run into millions.
Hotels and tourist attractions have seen their prospects for the summer wiped out after torrential downpours swamped property, brought down trees and caused devastating landslides.
One Alveley couple returned home at about midnight on Tuesday to find a huge rift had torn through their 250-year-old waterfall, leaving their house balancing on the edge of a deep gorge.
Ray and Diann Scriven, pictured, who live at the Paper Mill, in Alveley, are devastated and now fear their entire house may collapse into the brook below.
The waterfall, made of massive boulders, was around 10ft high and two metres thick. Most of the garden has also fallen in a landslide.
Mrs Scriven said: "We are completely devastated. We fear that the whole house could fall at any time. Parts of the garden and a path fell yesterday, if the conservatory goes, the rest of the house might go with it. We just don't know what to do.
"We have been here for 40 years and we have never seen anything like this. We were not in at the time but the force must have been incredible."
The Severn Valley Railway, which had been anticipating one of its best summers ever, today set up a "fighting fund" after embankments north of Arley were washed away completely, leaving rails suspended in mid-air.
"There is not much we can do about the loss of business, but we are just keeping going as best we can."
Events will continue to go-ahead where possible but takings at the start of the tourist season will be severely dented.
Also badly hit by floods was The Mill Hotel & Restaurant at Alveley, which plans to host six weddings this weekend.
It is facing a clean-up bill of £250,000 - and staff have just over 24 hours to restore the premises in time for its first wedding.
General manager Ian Hunter, said: "It is going to cost hundreds of thousands of pounds but at the moment all that is important is getting the place ready for the wedding tomorrow."
The Clarion Hotel at Madeley Court, Telford, is also facing a huge repair bill after a raging torrent of water swamped the ground floor. Guests in the 20 bedrooms downstairs have had to be put up elsewhere.
Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman David Morgan urged people who had suffered flood damage to contact insurers as a matter of priority.
To donate to the clean-up at the Severn Valley Railway call (01299) 403816.
