BBC News Online: UK

Two dead, two missing, in floods

The body of a middle-aged man was recovered from a flooded caravan park on the banks of the Avon near Evesham, Worcestershire. The body of a woman was also found in a house in Northampton.

Police in Warwickshire also fear the worst after a van was swept from a flooded road into a ditch near Leamington Spa.

Rescue teams with dogs are searching for a 14-year-old boy who was a passenger in the van, but it is feared he has drowned.

And hopes are fading for a 33-year-old woman believed to have fallen from a narrow-boat on a flooded river in Northampton.

The woman, who lived on the boat moored on the River Nene with her 57-year-old husband, was reported missing on Thursday night.

About 60 officers and a helicopter have been searching for her without success as the river was put on a red flood alert.

Police and firefighters have been carrying out several rescue operations in the Midlands, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire as the number of people stranded or evacuated from their homes continues to rise.

West Mercia's Chief Fire Officer David O'Dwyer said hundreds of people had been rescued across Worcestershire using dozens of boats, as well as RAF and police helicopters.

Around 800 firefighters from several counties were taking part in the operation.

Central England has been worst hit by the downpours, but any mopping-up operation will be hampered as forecasters predict more torrential rain for the start of the Easter weekend.

Motorists across the Midlands were forced to spend Thursday night in service stations and makeshift rest centres after being caught out by the rising waters.

In Worcestershire, a 54-year-old man stranded by flood waters was plucked from the roof of his Land Rover. He managed to grab hold of a rope lowered by a police helicopter crew and was lifted 200 yards to safety.

A further 46 people were rescued from another caravan park at Abbots Salford, Worcestershire, after a submerged tractor caused a boat carrying a fire crew and a number of residents to capsize.

Police in Northampton appealed to the public to provide boats to help rescue operations and volunteer divers joined the effort.

More than 300 people were evacuated from their homes and moved to emergency centres in Buckingham and Banbury, Oxfordshire, where the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal merged due to rainwater.

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