Published: July 23, 2007
Burnham-On-Sea holidaymakers tell of nightmare journey after floods

Burnham-On-Sea holidaymakers Donna Thickett and Adam Ball have recounted how they were forced to spend Friday night in their car on the M5 motorway after severe flooding shut the route and led to their trip from Birmingham taking a mammoth FIFTEEN hours.

The couple set off from Solihull in the West Midlands at 6.30pm on Friday and would usually expect the trip to Burnham-On-Sea to take two hours.

But the severe floods left them stranded in their car on the M5 and they didn't reach Burnham's Warren Guesthouse until 9am on Saturday.

"We, and many thousands of others on the motorway with us, had the journey from hell," said Adam, who is pictured with partner Donna and The Warren Guesthouse's owner, Tom Ashton.

"We spent more than six hours without moving on the M5 after it was shut by the severe flooding in Gloucestershire. We left Solihull at 6.30pm and quickly got onto the M42 and then the M5 but the slow moving traffic on the motorway meant we'd only travelled 40 miles by 11pm."

"We heard on local radio that the motorway would be closing, but by then we couldn't turn back. A few minutes later, the station advised that we would have to spend the night in our car. Our hearts sank at the news."

"At around 4am, after several hours stuck in a stationary queue, the Highways Agency managed to cut a hole in the central reservation barrier to let some traffic turn around and go northbound, but we were determined to carry on."

"As the darkness turned into daylight we saw the extent of the flooding around us, with fields, cars and trees under water for miles around."

"The traffic finally began to move at around 6.30am. Many cars were just left at the edge of the motorway, seemingly abandoned."

"We had no food with us, no lighting for much of the night because most of the M5 lights were blacked out, and we had to use empty bottles as our toilet facilities."

"We were so relieved to finally get down to Burnham, albeit after a very memorable 15 hour journey. It was a horrible experience, but of course our discomfort is relatively minor compared to all those people whose homes and businesses have been flooded."

Sedgemoor Tourism Association estimates that businesses in Burnham lost over £1million of income due to the bad weather on the first weekend of the tourist season, due to cancellations and the knock-on affect on local trade.

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10-day weather forecast for Burnham-On-Sea