Too close for comfort

Experts believe almost as much rain fell as in the deluge 26 months ago that flooded 850 homes and businesses in the town.

By the time the tide started to go out at 11.30am yesterday Morris Road had flooding although the waters did not reach homes.

Woolworth's closed for safety reasons and the fire brigade stood on standby on the Cliffe Bridge.

Fields around Lewes were under water and the Winterbourne Stream was a torrent.

The next high tide was due around midnight last night.

Emergency services were frantically hoping that it would not collide with floodwaters coming downstream from Uckfield.

And the desperately close call has led to angry demands that the powers-that-be stop talking about flood defences and get on with the job.

Action

Local trader and Lewes Flood Action spokesman John Clark said: 'It's time the talking stopped and the action began.

'This is beyond a joke.

'The situation could be stopped by using common sense. It's not rocket science. We need reservoirs above Uckfield to hold floodwater until it can be safely released, improved defence walls in Lewes and a floodplain to the south of the town.

'Nothing has been done so far and look at the situation we are in? We have narrowly escaped disaster but not perhaps next time.'

A decision about getting on with the defences seems no closer.

Funding

The Sussex Flood Defence Committee meets on Monday to decide the level of its funding bid for defence work and is expected to ask for a nine per cent increase from the Government which pays 65 per cent of costs and local authorities (35 per cent).

Cash-strapped East Sussex County Council has already said it has qualms about coming up with that sort of money.

The dire situation was further put into perspective by Environment Agency spokesman Ray Kemp who said on Wednesday evening: 'This is our worst nightmare.

'The amount of rain we have received over the past day or so has almost equalled the levels we saw in October 2000, and we have been warned to expect more.

'Heavy pulses of rain are falling on ground which is already heavily waterlogged.

'We are also very concerned about underground springs bursting, which is what happened two years ago.'

To make matters worse, a Force 10 south-westerly gale was expected off the sea yesterday afternoon.

l All the 50 or so ducks on the Pells lake at Lewes disappeared over the New Year. Bird lovers were hoping they had simply taken advantage of the weather to bed down elsewhere.

More pictures: Page 28

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