FIREFIGHTERS from Bude had a busy end to the weekend, as they travelled the lengths of Cornwall to rescue people from the floods.

On Sunday, September 3, it seemed Cornwall was drenched with everlasting downpours of rain, meaning it was not going to be a quiet Sunday for fire teams across the county.

The first call came at 11am, when crews from Bude were sent to St Kew to rescue the driver of a van from around four foot of water. The team quickly inflated their rescue boat and brought the driver to dry land safely.

The crew was then mobilised to a location nearby, where an elderly driver had become trapped in flood water in his car. Luckily, people nearby were able to push his vehicle to safety.

The team’s next call was to near Jamaica Inn, Bolventor, to reports of another casualty trapped in a car in flood water. Upon arrival, other crews from Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service had the incident in hand, so Bude crews were diverted to another call near Polperro, to which they found the occupiers of the vehicle had managed to self-rescue.

The crew was then requested to head to Bodmin Community Fire Station to stand by, in case of any further calls.

Approximately ten miles from Bodmin, the crew was diverted to reports of a family stuck in a car in North Petherwin.

A crew from Delabole Community Fire Station was on station at Bude, providing cover while the Bude crews were out. However, crews from Delabole were also mobilised to North Petherwin and managed to assist the casualties prior to Bude’s arrival.

At this point, a crew from Holsworthy Fire Station was mobilised to cover Bude. After some time, Bude crews were finally stood down and returned to the station at 6.30pm.

On its Facebook page, Bude Community Fire Station said: “After so many incidents involving people stuck in cars in flood water, we would like to remind everyone — do not drive through flood water. What can appear shallow can become deep very quickly, causing the vehicle to stop and trap you inside.”