Restaurant was swamped days after opening doors
A RESTAURANT in Accrington was struck by flooding just days after opening its doors to the public.
Pappous Greek and Grill opened on Mount Street on February 4 but fell victim to torrential rain caused by Storm Ciara.
Restaurant owner Gavin Georghiou feared the worst when arriving at the business on the morning of Sunday, February 9 but said it is too soon to tell what damage has been caused.
Speaking on Sunday, he said: “It’s affected us. I have gone in and swept up what I can. Luckily there’s some steps leading up to the entrance. It’s gone over the steps but not massively.
“Those steps have saved me. I’m not exactly sure yet what damage has been caused. I only opened this week so it’s not the ideal start. When I first went down I though ‘oh my God’. I was dreading the worst.
“If the rain carries on then it’s going to get inside.
“It’s at the rim of the steps at the moment.”
Gavin launched an appeal for social media for help and to secure sandbags to protect the building from rising water.
He said the restaurant was due to be closed on Sunday after a busy first week, and hoped to reopen by Tuesday if no further damage was caused.
He said: “There’s going to be another few days of rain so I’m trying to get some sandbags now. I went down this morning and saw a bit of water coming out of a grate but didn’t think anything of it.
“I then got a message from someone a bit later asking if I’d seen what was going on outside my shop.
“I have done what I can so far. We have probably lost a day’s trading. If it’s gone by Tuesday we should be all right.”