A NUMBER of business owners in Winton will seek compensation for damages after Thursday’s storm left them in as much as three feet of sewage water.

Following Thursday night’s torrential downpour, Winton High Street shop owners found their stores completely sodden and stock ruined.

Muhammed Kamal, owner of the Bournemouth 360 mini market, said groceries were floating in three feet of water and most of his freezer units are broken.

He believes he lost approximately £25,000 of goods due to flood damage.

“It was a disaster. The bottom two shelves were all gone. The council came and provided me with a skip because they saw how much damage had happened.

“At the end of the day I’m the one who is suffering.”

Julie Adams, owner of Jass Studios next door, said: “It went all the way through the place so we had to do our mop and bucket dance on Friday. We have had to tell people to bring their wellies.

“I couldn’t afford to close. All the rooms were flooded - it was just a series of paddling pools.”

Ms Adams said she hopes to claim compensation for the damage.

The most expensive part, she believes, will be the replacement of the specially-designed sprung wooden flooring.

A member of staff at the Salvation Army said: “We lost some stock but not a lot but it’s mainly the smell that’s the problem. You could see by the state of those drains how much muck was coming out.”

Cllr Simon Bull, for Winton East, has called for an investigation into why the drains weren’t seemingly able to cope with the heavy rainfall.

He said: “Until the council is able to address the problem it should consider, as a minimum, a rate rebate for those businesses. I would also urge the council to clearly outline how they plan to increase sustainable urban drainage in Winton and what preventative measures they plan to put in place to reduce future disruption.”

In a letter responding to Cllr Bull’s call, council leader John Beesley said Thursday saw 11.6mm of rain in just 10 minutes.

“That’s one sixth of a month’s rainfall in just 10 minutes,” he said.

“Any drainage system in the world would struggle with that intensity of rain. In my experience the council has never given a reduction in business rates for flooding as any reductions are greatly limited in scope.”