Burst pipes misery

BURST water pipes brought flood misery to one Uckfield businesswoman last week.

Katie Wroe, leaseholder of Clarges, at Kings Court, off the High Street, was left counting the cost of the two burst pipes at her small private health centre with a hydrotherapy pool.

Youngsters swimming and ballet lessons, which are held there, were cancelled this week, and a chiropodist and homeopath who also work from the building were forced to close because of the flood damage to the premises fixtures and fittings.

However, despite the disaster, which happened some time on New Year s Day, Ms Wroe was hopeful of returning to some kind of normality within a fortnight.

'I am confident that the children s swimming lessons will be up and running if not next week, then the week after, she said. 'We ve had to close this week because it s just so bad. The ceilings, carpets and everything are just ruined. It s very upsetting because January is our busiest time and it s taken a couple of days to register what s happened. But you ve got to look forward, and I think we can get up and running again fairly soon. Downstairs, where the swimming pool is, wasn t as badly affected as upstairs.

The damage, which is believed to have been caused by frozen pipes thawing after the recent freeze, has been estimated at more than 20,000.