A HADLEIGH builder has today told of his horror as a wave swept his car into a river, leaving him to scramble out of his sunroof.David Mowles, 37, is trying to look on the funny side today after his Discovery Land Rover was covered by water in Whatfield as floods hit parts of Suffolk this weekend.

A HADLEIGH builder has today told of his horror as a wave swept his car into a river, leaving him to scramble out of his sunroof.

David Mowles, 37, is trying to look on the funny side today after his Discovery Land Rover was covered by water in Whatfield as floods hit parts of Suffolk this weekend.

Mr Mowles said: “I went down to the river and was going to go across the ford. I got to about half a foot from the edge and realised it was too high.

“I was about to reverse when another car came across from the other side.

“The other car created a wave and the water came towards me. It lifted the front of my car up and dragged it into the middle of the river.

“It was quite scary.”

As the water began filling up his car Mr Mowles' first thought was to make sure his dogs, Jake and Lenny, were safe, so he lifted them onto a nearby bridge through the sunroof.

He added: “The water came up to about chest height, it was very worrying.

“It wasn't hard to get out but I was pleased I had a sunroof!”

Following the drama on Saturday, Mr Mowles, who works with Academy Building Contracts in Hadleigh, went back to the scene the next day with his boss, Richard Dyer, to try to tow the car out. But by then the river had swelled to an even larger size.

Mr Mowles added: “Everyone has been laughing at me and my step-daughter Kerys thinks it is hilarious.

“I imagine I will find it funny soon, no one was hurt.

“The car has been taken out of the water now but I'm not sure where it is or who managed to get it out.

“When I find it I will try to recover it and just replace the insides because this is the kind of thing Land Rovers were built for.”

Were you caught out by the flooding? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.