Winchester flooding causes high street shop closures

The shops hit hardest by the inundation were those closer to The Broadway, where the overflow from drains collected during the hour of torrential rain on Thursday, August 1.

Staff at Card Factory estimated the store has lost "thousands of pounds" in merchandise after their stock room was flooded. They hope to reopen tomorrow.

The British Heart Foundation is also closed after its floodgate failed to stop water streaming into the shop.

READ MORE: Winchester flooding 2020: Major report reveals causes

The British Heart Foundation with its floodgate up (Image: Sebastian Haw)

The Card Factory workers told the Chronicle that their shop was flooded in 2020 and 2021, the last time this occurred before yesterday.

But this instance was the worst, they say. 

In the Winchester Wetherspoons pub The Old Gaolhouse water streamed from the ceiling, causing "sparks and a bang" from a lighting fixture. The pub reopened later in the evening.

Theatre Royal had to call off a kids' production of Sleeping Beauty after water leaked into its electrical system.

Lisa Alexander, the mother of one of the children in the play, said: "Forty children who had worked so hard, were left devastated. Let's hope it dries out over night so tomorrow's performance can happen."

SEE ALSO: Flooding in Winchester: the past, present and future

Winchester City Council leader Martin Tod said: "We do need the County Council and Southern Water to raise their game.  

"The world has changed and this kind of flooding event is getting ever more frequent. I think this one was the worst we’ve seen. We need to speed up improvements to local sewers. I also want to see more regular unblocking of gullies in higher risk areas, not always waiting for people to report them. It’s not just drains. We also need other changes to slow down the water flow.

"The city council isn’t responsible for street drainage, sewage or flooding – that’s a Hampshire County Council and Southern Water responsibility – but our teams were out making sure that the city’s river flood defences were ready in advance – and thankfully they all worked properly. The city council and its contractors were also out first thing this morning cleaning the streets where we’d had reports of flooding debris.

"I also visited affected residents and businesses this morning with our local MP, Danny Chambers, and heard how badly some of them had been affected. We're both working to get faster action to tackle the problem."

A Southern Water team was spotted today on the High Street near Winchester Crown Court. Workers told the Chronicle that they were pumping water out of Dogs Trust charity shop.

Scottish Power was also at work on the High Street digging up electricity cables after a power cut. One worker said this may well have been caused by the flood.

The 2020 flood led to an investigation by environmental consultant agency JBL into its causes – the inquiry showed that drains had not been sufficiently cleared by Hampshire County Council, leaving the city's drainage system less able to cope with heavy rainfall and increasing the risk of flooding.

It also discovered that HCC was not aware of the presence of some of its flood assets, which “could lead to potential issues with lack of maintenance exacerbating or causing flooding issues if left unaddressed”.

The flooding on the high street allegedly stems from a drain at roughly the same level as NatWest Old Bank. 

A spokesperson for Southern Water said:  “We are working closely with Hampshire County Council, Winchester City Council and the Environment Agency in response to recent flooding in Winchester. As part of this urgent action, we’re investigating whether our local network and infrastructure worked as it should have during this incident. We will share our findings with all parties when enquiries conclude.”