A young local couple whose popular pub suffered huge damage during Storm Dennis this week thanked locals who rushed to clean up in the aftermath.

Will Jones, and Georgia Davies, have run the Bridge Inn, Llanfoist, since August 2018, and have 15 locals to thank for coming to the rescue after Storm Dennis ripped through their livelihood, swamping the pub in two feet of murky water.

Through the kindness of the local volunteers, the pub reopened just days after the Storm Dennis catastrophe.

Floods caused by the unprecedented storm poured through the pub’s basement, rising through the ground floors, and kitchen, ruining carpets, fixtures, and fridges, freezers and kitchen appliances.

Fifteen locals, regulars at the freehold pub, rushed to join the clean-up operation, helping pull up sodden carpets, seating, and flood debris.

Will, 24, said: “We had to leave the pub on the Saturday night, as the flood came in. The water was two-feet high, over your wellies. We came back on the Monday,for the big clean-up effort when everyone helped out.

“We’ve had to strip carpets, they’re ruined, and the seating. We also had to pull out the kitchen appliances: fridges, freezers, that kind of thing. It was in two-feet of water.”

The water broke down the pub’s fencing, and swept away most of the beer garden furniture.

“We also lost five of our picnic benches,” said Will. “We’ve managed to get back six of them, they were 500 metres down the water. We found one lodged about six feet up a tree.

“We reopened on the Tuesday. Me, Georgia, our families were there. And those who helped out. It was a bit of a celebration, a big ‘thank you’ to them, really. It was a tremendous effort, and we cannot thank them enough.”

Following the clean-up, Georgia Davies, also 24, posted on the pub’s Facebook page, thanking all the regulars for their help.

“We’d like to thank everyone for all their hard work over the last couple of days at the pub and for all the messages and phone calls. We appreciate it so much.” The post named a host of volunteers, before adding: “There’s a few drinks over the bar for you.”

“And an even greater thank you to a very, very kind lady that stopped and handed us some money towards repairs, a true act of kindness.”

Storm Dennis battered Monmouthshire and surrounding areas, bringing high winds, and bursting riverbanks turning roads into waterways, fields into floodplains, and wrecking hundreds of houses, displacing local families, some of which are still in temporary housing.

Unprecedented floods forced Monmouthshire and Powys county councils to work with Natural Resources Wales, and emergency services to fight 24/7 against the relentless rain and wind. Firemen worked overnight, handing out sandbags, clearing fallen trees, and ferrying people to rescue centres as homes were evacuated. Llanfoist Bridge, the old Abergavenny to Raglan road, and Merthyr Road between Llanfoist and Govilon were closed down. The sheer force of the swollen waters damaged supports to the ancient Crickhowell Bridge, with swathed submerged.