A MOTORIST has spoken of the terrifying moment she was forced to abandon her car in rapidly rising floodwater.

Will Clarke

A MOTORIST has spoken of the terrifying moment she was forced to abandon her car in rapidly rising floodwater.

Sylvia Foley, from Lavenham, near Sudbury, was delivering copies of the East Anglian Daily Times to homes in and around the village when she got into trouble on Lower Road.

The 56-year-old quickly became stranded when her Vauxhall Astra came to a shuddering halt in the freezing water. With the water rising and pouring into her car, she had to wade up to her waist in water to find help.

“I was driving along, there was no sign and the water just looked like a puddle. It was a shock when the water came up to the bottom of the window,” she said.

“The engine stopped and water started coming in almost immediately.

“It was awful, it was very frightening. It was only my second winter living in Suffolk after moving from Essex and I was unprepared for this.

“It was freezing but thankfully a couple took me in and gave me dry clothes and coffee. They said they would get in touch when I can get my car back.”

The police and fire service told Mrs Foley they would not take any unnecessary risks to retrieve the car until the waters subside.

Meanwhile, a couple in their 50s spent the morning stacking the furniture at their home in Hepworth, near Bury St Edmunds, in an attempt to protect it from rising water.

David Stevenson, 59, a retired floor layer and school caretaker who suffers from emphysema, and his wife Pauline, 59, said the stress of having rising waters lapping at their doorstep was harming their health.

“The water was building up for about 48 hours and it was getting really bad,” he said.

“One chap has been living here for 30-years and he said it has never been as bad as this before.

“We have been really concerned as we live in a bungalow and there was nowhere to put our furniture.”