ELDERLY residents in South Cerney feared for their homes after the River Churn burst its banks at the weekend, leaving gardens, garages and conservatories underwater.

Bromford Housing Association owns about 40 bungalows in Boxbush Road, all of which are occupied by elderly and vulnerable residents.

Maureen Dunn, a Bromford support worker, said there was a shortage of sandbags. “We distributed as many sandbags as we could, as quickly as possible, but we struggled to find enough,” she said.

She added the flooding was unprecedented. “One resident has been living here for 25 years and she has never seen the flooding as bad as this. It was serious in 2007, but this is much worse,” she said.

John Large, a pensioner from Boxbush Road, said he had noticed the river level rising on Friday evening. “It was quite scary,” he said. “We watched the water creeping up the garden and we were just hoping it wouldn’t come into the house.”

He added the water had already caused considerable damage. “The back garden is still completely underwater,” he said. “My neighbour had to go and stay with her daughter, because the water was starting to come into her house through the conservatory.”

Local resident Darren Cawkwell said he had been shocked by the flooding. “I have been living here for five years and I’ve never seen anything like it. We bought some sandbags and tried to protect the house, but the garage has been completely flooded,” he said.

Chairman of South Cerney Parish Council Mike Stuart said the flooding was worst in Boxbush Road and Robert Franklin Way. “Sunday morning brought some of the worst flooding in living memory,” he said.

“Thankfully there were no reports of dwellings actually being swamped, but several garages, conservatories and outbuildings were saturated.”

He added the Parish Council paid for two tonnes of sand, which was purchased from Swindon. An irrigation pump from South Cerney’s Bowls Club was also used to remove excess water from garages in the area.