Chichester jewellers saved from serious flood damage

Firefighters from Chichester were called at 10.21pm to Timothy Roe after the manager of Côte Brasserie heard water gushing from inside the store.

Five crew members attended the scene by 10.25pm, where they discovered water pouring from the workshop above where a water pipe had burst.

Wael Solani, 27, manager of Côte Brasserie, said: “A lot of our customers like to have a look at the jewellery from their shop after they leave us because it is just across the street from us, which is what happened when we were closing last night.

“The lady who had just eaten at ours came back and told me that she could hear water from inside the store, so I went over and looked through the letter box and saw water falling quite heavily.

“I went back to my store and called the police straight away.”

The firefighters isolated the water supply in the jewellery store, using an internal stopcock to cease the flooding.

Dan Roe, manager of Timothy Roe, said: “We are so grateful for Wael’s quick thinking and taking the time to call the police and also Côte’s customer for reporting the sound of running water to Wael.

“Without their quick response we could have been looking at a very different picture this morning.

“We would love to get in touch with the mystery Côte customer to give a special thank you.”

Mr Roe added: “Luckily we have escaped with some soggy carpets and minor water damage to some plaster - thanks to Wael and his customer we were able to open almost on time today.

“We would also like to thank the police officers and fire fighters who helped us out last night - we are very grateful.”

The Chichester crew left the store at 11.17pm after advice was given by an attendant.