The worst flooding in decades hit Motcombe last night as unparalleled rainfall and swollen rivers left scores of villagers taking shelter in the village hall after their homes were flooded.

Secretary of Motcombe Village Hall Carol Saumarez left the Moviola event at the hall, to find her driveway knee deep in water. Wading to her front door, she then found gallons of flood water inside.

Carol told us this morning that she and her husband were ‘struggling with mud in every room’.

“People have told me this is the worst flooding Motcombe has seen in 30 years,” she said.

Motcombe Village Hall did not close after the Moviola event, and was kept open as an emergency base from which firefighters from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service were operating and flooded villagers took shelter.

Treacherous flooding affected residents at Church Walk, Bittles Green, Frog Lane and The Street, with water entering homes. Pumps were being used in the Turnpike area. And eyewitnesses say that the brook between Hunter’s Mead and Stainer’s Mead is the fullest in living memory.

Numerous reports of fallen trees have forced Dorset Police to close several roads and Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service are warning drivers not to drive through standing water.

Dinah’s Hollow in Melbury Abbas in Shaftesbury is blocked due to a landslip in the early hours of this morning.

The B3081 between Shaftesbury and Gillingham in north Dorset is flooded in places and there are reports of a collision near Bradford Abbas, close to the Thornford turn.

In Semley, firefighters rescued a woman trapped in her car in rising floodwaters and Wiltshire Police closed the road between Sem Hill and the railway bridge.

West of Shaftesbury, there is water across the A30 at East Stour near Riverside Garage. The road between Stour Row and Cherry Orchard is said to be treacherous.

The Environment Agency said river levels are high in the Upper Stour and on low-lying land near the tributaries between Gillingham and Sturminster Newton.

Martin Belben of Turnpike Kennels and Cattery at Motcombe said: “Can we say a massive thank you to all the guys at Gillingham Fire Station who helped us last night at Turnpike Kennels at Motcombe, they were so helpful and couldn’t do enough.

“Just to add and to put our customers minds at rest, all the animals were safe, warm and dry. The kennels and cattery are on higher ground so were not affected. We on the other hand may be sharing their kennels tonight.”