ALRESFORD villagers are fearfully looking out for heavy rain this autumn that could bring back their flooding nightmare.

Scores of homes in the Upper Itchen Valley were affected by floods last winter.

Groundwater levels are still high and more rain could see them rise and again inundate many homes in the Alresford area.

Pippa Stephenson, of Main Road, Bramdean, has not been able to live in her 15th century home for months.

She has formed the Bramdean and Hinton Ampner Flood Action Group that will meet on October 1 at the village hall.

She is campaigning for better ditch clearance and bigger drains to deal with the expected increase in flash flooding due to global warming.

The winter flooding affected 24 homes and there was flash flooding again in June. The A272 through Bramdean was closed for a month.

Mrs Stephenson, a nursery school teacher, said: “We had to move out as the house is uninhabitable. We can’t reinstate it until the property has dried out. The house has no value at the moment.

“If it rains heavily my house will not get reinstated. The generators are still drying it out.”

“I’m a woman on a mission over this. We need to get the authorities to spend the money before the winter.

She called for a long-term solution would be cost-effective as the month-long closure of the A272 would have cost businesses millions in extra mileage.

Meon Valley MP George Hollingbery MP will attend the October 1 meeting.

Mrs Stephenson wants to liaise with villagers in downriver Cheriton as they are directly affected by decisions taken to alleviate flooding upstream.

Private landowners have been asked to dredge all their ditches by September 30.

Mrs Stephenson praised local elected representatives such as city councillor Harry Verney, Matthew Morton chairman of the parish council and Mr Hollingbery and villager and retired admiral David Templeman.

She said the county council and Environment Agency were being cooperative but the crunch would be setting aside money to pay for the work.

Mrs Stephenson can be contacted on her email: pippadeakin@gmail.com