A VILLAGE was hit by flash flooding for the second time in less than a month, resulting in water entering several homes.

Villagers worked with the rural beat officer and the fire brigade throughout the night to try and stop the flood water travelling further, by digging ditches for it to run into.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue confirmed that it was called to two homes in Ellisfield on Sunday night, one of which had a metre of flood water.

A pump from Basingstoke fire station dealt with both incidents, with six firefighters spending nearly three hours at the scene pumping water from the homes and clearing the gullies to prevent further flooding.

PC Andrew Reid, rural beat officer for the Preston Candover area, was alerted to the flooding at 10pm on Sunday night, and said the "atrocious weather conditions" had resulted in rainwater with mud travelling down from Farleigh Wallop through the fields into Green Lane, Ellisfield, before gushing at speed into Berrydown Lane to Axford.

He said several properties had become damaged by flood water, with several inches of mud filled water in all the ground floor rooms.

He added: "The water filled the drains and ditches and an astronomical amount of water was flowing at a considerable speed into the grounds of one home."

PC Reid called on the help of villagers, and they worked together as a team in the middle of the night to dig holes in the verges, to prevent the water from travelling any further.

He also requested 150 sandbags from Hampshire Highways, but said that these did not arrive until after 2am, because of demand elsewhere in the county.

As previously reported in The Gazette, Ellisfield was hit by flash floods in January when a torrent of water gushed along Green Lane, turning the road into a flowing river.

At the time, residents said the incident highlighted an on-going problem in the Green Lane area.

But Councillor Sean Woodward, executive member for economy, transport and environment at Hampshire County Council, said: "The situation there has improved since we completed an Operation Resilience drainage scheme in the Axford Road/Green Lane area."

He added: "Given the topography of the land, drainage capacity on those roads may not always be able to cope with periods of intense rainfall."

He said the council would investigate whether anything more could be done, but admitted that "options are limited".

Glen Horgan, who lives in Green Lane, said: "Clearly the actions taken after the last bout in January were not sufficient.

"Indeed, last night's flooding was worse than January's due to the build-up of mud and gravel in the run-off areas."

The father-of-four described PC Reid as a "local hero" and is again calling on the council to remove deposits from the road to prevent future flooding, adding: "Green Lane is once again Green River."

PC Reid told The Gazette that Ellisfield Parish Council had acted promptly following the flooding in January, and that the situation could have been much worse.

He praised those who had helped out, adding: "Yet again the use of local people and local knowledge worked incredibly well and prevented in my opinion considerable problems for residents being flooded out."

An urgent review is now expected to be carried out to prevent future flooding.

Were you affected by flooding last night, or do you have any pictures? Call Emily Roberts on 01256 337410 or email emily.roberts@basingstokegazette.co.uk.