AFTER the flood, the clean-up has begun.

A Worcester City Council spokesman said:

“Council staff will be in action on today cleaning streets where the water level has fallen sufficiently.

“Waste crews will be visiting Diglis homes to help residents start to remove damaged items. We are asking residents to get advice from their insurance provider before disposing of any waste items.

“There will be no Saturday Skips service in Waverley Street, as staff will be working on the flood recovery instead.”

All but two of the 24 residents of Diglis Avenue, which is situated on the bank of the River Severn, have been forced to abandon their homes as water reached “waist-height”.

Resident Amanda Cartwright, 44, said that although she had been aware of the flood-risk, the experience had been “thoroughly depressing” and “emotionally tiring”.

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Ms Cartwright approached the council online and posted a picture of her submerged garden, saying: “Unbelievable my house has been underwater for so long.

“Water still at windowsill height at front and mid-thigh in back garden. Still two inches inside but going down slowly.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Ms Cartwright said: “It’s gone down quite a bit now. It was waist-high in the garden with two to three feet inside the house.

“If you stand in our garden it’s still past your waist, if you went down the stairs at the front of the house, you would be submerged.”