WEST Wiltshire is on red alert as yet more torrential rain is set to sweep across the district.

The Met Office has issued another severe warning for the area which is still heavily under water from Monday's deluge.

Flood water has started to drop in Bradford on Avon where shopkeepers face weeks of mopping up after the River Avon burst its banks and put the centre of town under water.

The town is now bracing itself for the waters to rise again as more rain is forecast to sweep in.

President of Bradford Chamber of Commerce Alison James said: "It really is dire, but that is the price you pay for living by a delightful river. People were forced to walk along the railway line to get from one side of town to the other."

Roads around Melksham and Trowbridge were again virtually impassable, and emergency crews were working at full stretch pumping out homes and businesses, and reaching stranded motorists.

By early yesterday floods were being reported on many of the main roads, and the road near the Nestle factory at Staverton, near Trowbridge, (pictured), which had only just been re-opened, was expected to have to close again because of flood water.

One Trowbridge family was left stranded on a P&O ferry which was unable to dock for 24 hours at Dover because of the storms.