‘People were sitting at the restaurant and could see the water rising and rising. It is dangerous.’
Storm Dennis hit Bath hard over the weekend, leaving the River Avon swollen.
On Monday the river at the Bath Destructor Bridge was close to its most recent high level of 1.64m on Christmas Eve 2013 and two flood warnings were in place over Bath where “immediate action” is required with a further two more flood alerts.
The high water levels have affected much of Bath with emergency services working tirelessly to make sure everyone remains safe.
One canal boat was lodged in the trees along the A4 at Bathford and water levels were high at Bath Quays, with part of a park area underwater.
One resident, Rita Lazaro, tweeted: “@bathquays park has disappeared under water.
“Never seen the water level so high in my 11 years of living by the river.”
The Avonvale Rugby Football Club in Bathford was also submerged by water, as was Keynsham RFC with play called off over the weekend.
Old Sulians RFC tweeted: “This is the so-called ‘standing water’ that prevented our game at Keynsham on Saturday from going ahead.
A manager of a Bath hotel said his restaurant was a ‘matter of inches’ away from being flooded.
Staff at the Old Mill Hotel, off Toll Bridge Road, in Batheaston, collectively held their breath as water levels continued to rise over the weekend.
Restaurant manager Rob Bennett said the flooding was not as bad as first feared but a storage room was knee-deep in floodwater.
“It was one inch from the top of the step, which is at the same level as the restaurant,” he said.
“People were sitting at the restaurant and they could see the water rising and rising. It is dangerous.
“The floodwater is in the basement. The chef said it was 15cm. The water came up to my knees when I got there.
“All the damage is to the storage below. We are due two more storms as well but we have had it worse.”
The restaurant was hit by floods in 2013.
“In the past, we had to close the restaurant as there was two feet of water,” he said.
“If water gets into the restaurant, we close it off.
“I am not sure you can do anything in terms of defences. It is nature.
“The worst time was on Christmas Eve in 2013. We had to cancel Christmas.
“People were so upset. We were shut for a month I think.
“After that, we moved our kitchen to be at the same level as the restaurant and that has made a big difference. Before it was lower and used to flood more often.
“Under the toll bridge we keep chairs there but they were washed away by the water.
“The flooding is just something we deal with.
“It is amazing how quickly the water can go up and down.”
Meanwhile, a riverside gastropub in Bath was shut on Monday and Tuesday due to flood damage.
The team at Bathampton Mill, off Mill Lane, posted on its Facebook page to show an area of the building had been badly flooded.
Its team announced on Monday that Bathampton Mill was shut “until further notice.”
❝ Never seen the water level so high in my 11 years of living by the river. Rita Lazaro