A Somerset garden centre will re-open tomorrow, November 3, six weeks after a devastating flood caused the business to shut down.
Willowbrook Nursery & Garden Centre, in West Buckland, near Wellington, was hit by a month's rain in a 24-hour period on September 24.

Director of the family-run business Stephen Grabham explained to diyweek.net: "It was the volume of water in such a short space of time. The water just came up and covered the entire site and nothing could cope.

"It went into the shop, which also has a pet shop and aquatic centre. It went into our cafe and kitchen, and also there's a bungalow on the site that belongs to my parents which was flooded as well."

The garden centre was forced to close down entirely, but the owners have used the last few weeks to their advantage, making several improvements to the site.

"We've spent the last six weeks drying everything out and taken the opportunity to do some adjustments as well," Mr Grabham went on. "We've painted, and the shop was in two parts and in one part we've replaced the whole floor. A good majority of the shelving in the main shop had water damage and we've replaced it all. We've also put a new roof inside the building so it makes it a lot more light and airy."

He said he was not yet sure what the final cost of the damage and improvements would be.

Willowbrook is now looking forward to re-opening for business tomorrow. "It's been a long six weeks," Mr Grabham said, "but the staff that work here have had a hand in all the refurbishments we've been doing - and I think they've enjoyed it."

This was the second time in five months that Willowbrook has been adversely affected by the elements: the business was threatened by high water five months ago.