Coalbrookdale cafe owner 'hopes for better luck' after four floods

A cafe that has been flooded four times this year and forced to close because of coronavirus restrictions has reopened.

The co-owner of the Dale End Cafe in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, Chris Harrison, said he hoped his "run of bad luck" was coming to an end.

He has been selling food and drink from a mobile catering van and thanked the local community for their support.

They have helped him raise more than £10,000 to carry out repairs.

Mr Harrison said "we lost everything" when the cafe flooded three times during February alone, following Storm Dennis.

He said the property had been completely refitted, "from electrics, to plastering, wall tiling and new equipment" and had been ready to open again in June, as lockdown measures were eased, when a fourth flood brought in sewage from the drains.

At the time, he said he feared he might have to close for good, with insurers refusing to cover him.

Donations from local residents, diners and other businesses helped him raise the money needed to carry out the repairs.

A permanent water pump has been installed and the walls have been tiled to the level of previous floods, but Mr Harrison said ultimately, "we have to accept we can't stop the water table rising and the shop flooding".

He also said flash flooding was harder to prevent, with little notice given.

"After the first three floods we could have thrown in the towel, but the community really supported us, to the point we felt we had to carry on," he said.

With the cafe refitted and "completely redesigned", he said he felt the time was right to reopen and that the "battle wagon" catering van was "only ever a temporary solution".

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