WHILE Wiltshire is continuing the clear up after yet another wave of torrential rain.

Many roads across the county were closed because of flooding on Thursday, including Frog Lane in Wootton Bassett and Tadpole Lane in Purton.

River levels on the Thames at Lechlade and the Kennet at Marlborough were higher than normal and both were under a flood watch.

Wiltshire Police and fire brigade were kept busy and although things were mostly back to normal by 3pm on Thursday, officers will have little chance to relax. There will be very heavy rainfall and gales in the South West and flooding is almost certain to re-occur.

The weather has taken its toll on Christ Church cemetery, where graves are beginning to subside.

Peter Jones, one of the ground's trustees, said there was no danger of the contents of the graves showing but warned visitors to stick to the paths.

"We'd ask people to stay off the grass near the graves, because it is getting dangerous," he said. "The holes are 12 to 18 inches deep."

Several people in the Swindon area were forced to call upon the services of firefighters after their properties were flooded.

Wiltshire Fire Brigade spokeswoman Val Hampshire said: "It was steady all day long and we received 40 to 50 calls from across the county."

One man, Roger Tyson, from Beverley, Toothill, grew so frustrated after his garage flooded for the umpteenth time that he decided to build his own flood defence wall.

He and his nextdoor neighbour, Alistair Rose, needed the fire brigade to pump water out of their garages which had reached up to six inches deep in places.

Mr Tyson, 55, said: "It's a design fault in the house and it tends to flood once or twice a year. We thought we'd got away with it over the weekend, but it didn't cope with Wednesday night's rain."

Edwin Meech, from Knowlands, Highworth, also awoke yesterday to find his garage flooded.

The 68-year-old narrowly prevented the water entering his house as he battled to clear the three inches of water from the garage with a mop and bucket.

"I was fighting a losing battle at one point, but there is no great damage done," he said.

Thames Water spokesman Frank Shepherd said the firm had been inundated with calls all day right across the region and was struggling to respond to individual problems quickly.

But he confirmed that, unlike some water companies, it was unlikely to be suffer any water supply problems over coming days.

Meanwhile closures of the Sapperton tunnel near Stroud and Chipping Sodbury tunnel because of flooding were causing rail delays.

First Great Western spokeswoman Lucy Battle said the Chipping Sodbury tunnel was re-opened yesterday but still faced a 5mph speed restriction, which was having knock-on effects on Swindon services.

Sapperton remained closed Thursday night and passengers travelling from Swindon to Kemble were having to board buses around the trouble-spot.

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