FLOODING hit roads and properties in West Devon on Monday afternoon as two inches of rain fell in three hours.

Chillaton, Milton Abbot and Bridestowe were some of the worst hit areas with many reports of vehicles being stuck on the roads because of excess surface water.

Tavistock firefighters were called to a woman trapped in a car in flood water at Milton Abbot but fortunately she had managed to free herself by the time they arrived.

The crew spent the next one and a half hours pumping 18 inches of water from the road.

At Chillaton a number of houses suffered some minor flooding from the rising river which runs through the centre of the village. Towards the Lifton side of the village the road remained impassable and many people had their journeys interrupted.

Acting postmaster Eric Burch said the flooding was very localised and it all happened over a period of two to three hours.

He said: ?It was very strange because places like Gunnislake and St Ann?s Chapel had no rain at all.

?Some properties and gardens here were affected by some minor flooding but by the morning things seemed to be back to normal.?

Landlady of the Chichester Arms Bridget Passmore said just a month ago the pub had been flooded and since then she had installed new carpets.

?There was quite a bit of water coming this way but the authorities put in a new drain recently which made a huge difference.

?We were able to deflect the water with blocks towards the drain preventing it entering the pub.

?If it had rained for another hour I think things might have been a bit different.?

In Bridestowe it was all hands to the pump as the Crandford Brook rose by three feet in the space of half an hour and threatened to burst its banks.

Neighbours rallied to fill sandbags and sweep out water from two village centre properties.

Village store proprietor Naomi Nardi said it was down to the villagers that her home suffered no more than mud damage.

She said: ?Thankfully, all the neighbours pitched in or it could have been much more serious. We have never been flooded and so were not prepared for it.

?Someone from the borough council dropped some sandbags off on their way home from work and a local builder gave us some sand to fill them up for which we were very grateful.?