LANDSCAPE gardener Andy Peel Cross is backing a new device to stop floodwaters getting into homes.

Mr Peel Cross,who operates out of the Wagon Yard in London Road, Marlborough, under the name Garden Landscape and Design, is accustomed to installing water features rather than trying to keep floodwaters at bay.

But he has now diversified into installing a novel flood protector designed to replace old fashioned sandbags and prevent water getting into properties.

The simple fibreglass device, which acts like a pair of lock-gates, has been developed by two of his friends at Reading, Roy Doyle and Shaz Buk, who until now have fabricated his glass fibre ponds and water features.

The inventive pair had already been working on a simple flood-barrier for domestic situations when the latest flooding disasters occurred.

Mr Peel Cross said: "Something like 200 homes in the Reading area where they work are flooded each year according to Environment Agency estimates."

They came up with a glass fibre gate that is latched into place over the lower part of doorways whenever floods threaten. The device, which costs about £400 for each doorway, can withstand the pressure of any floodwater, said Mr Peel Cross.

The only way water can get past it is over the top by which time, he added, it's probably getting in through windows.

A smaller version fits over air bricks making them watertight to prevent floods seeping into homes that way.

Mr Peel Cross has already started receiving orders to fit the Floodguard devices which have British and world patents.

He said: "It is simple like all the best new inventions and people will be kicking themselves for not thinking of it first."

He hopes that fitting the flood devices will keep him and his staff busy during a traditionally quiet time of year in the winter months.

During the rest of the year when there are no floods threatening Mr Peel Cross and his staff of five will continue to concentrate on garden design.