A village hall has been left under 18 inches of water following torrential rain.

The Warden Bay Village Hall had to be evacuated of nursery children on Sheppey earlier today after the downpours left it waterlogged and unusable.

Cllr Pat Sandle, chair of Warden Parish Council, said the village hall was now facing a huge mopping-up bill.

She said: "It's all flooded: the car park, the children's play area. I've been told the flood water is 18 inches deep and it's got into the hall.

"When they saw the levels rising this morning, they evacuated the children from the playgroup, and they're all key workers' children.

"They can't use the village hall now, and once the water goes away, everything inside will have to be disinfected or thrown away.

"It's really, really, really disheartening."

When asked what she would like to be done about the flooding, Cllr Sandle said: "Right now, we would like to get some pumps down there so they can try and get rid of the flood water.

"Then, eventually, we would like the Environment Agency to reinstate the second outflow to the sea.

"Since the agency designated the dyke at the side of the hall as a river, one outflow is just not enough.

"It's a big problem, and not just for the village hall, but for the surrounding area. Saddlebrook Holiday Park is also flooded."

To make matters worse, Cllr Sandle said the parish council and the village hall committee had been waiting for flood doors to be put up at the hall, which the parish council leases from Swale council.

"We had agreed everything and were in the middle of arranging the flood doors, but they couldn't be fitted until February," she said.

"It's going to be a bit late now, but hopefully we can get them done for the future."

Cllr Sandle added: "The hall was opened in 1995. I have lived in Warden for 25 years and it's flooded a number of times. To my knowledge, there have been four floods in the past 15 years, now five - something needs to be done.

"The last time it flooded was about four years ago. We were told, at one point, a multi-agency task force was being set up to examine the problem and find solutions - but we never heard any more."

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