Clear-up after floods hit village

Many of the roads in Borrowdale were impassable

A clear-up operation is taking place after a village in the heart of Cumbria was hit by the worst flooding in years.

The becks in the Borrowdale village of Rosthwaite rose more than 13ft (4m) on Tuesday night, bursting through flood defences, as heavy rain hit the area.

The road to Keswick was under water and impassable to everything but tractors.

Staff at the Royal Oak Hotel, in Rosthwaite, which was hit by the waters, said it was the worst floods they have seen since the 1960s.

Susan Dowie, who runs the hotel, said: "The water was just below the window sill, so I was worried that it was coming through the window.

"We had to sandbag the wall outside, which is a flood defence, and the water was still coming over the bottom bit.

"If it breaches the wall, it isn't just the hotel and house that's flooded it is the whole village."