Recovering from the floods

7:37am Thursday 8th November 2007

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TWO more Evesham businesses closed by the July floods are set to re-open their doors to the public next week.

Trichologist Sally-Ann Tarver, who had to be plucked from her first floor flat window by firefighters in a boat, was preparing for an open day on Tuesday to mark the return home of the Cotswold Trichology Centre in Port Street.

And that evening will see a gala celebration at nearby Olivinos restaurant which opens its doors to the public on Wednesday.

The rate of recovery has been quicker than expected after the summer's flood devastation with nearly all affected businesses likely to reopen by next spring.

Twenty businesses remain closed on Port Street and Waterside but repairs are in progress in all but one shop. Ten businesses badly affected by the floods have begun trading again and four more are expected to be open again soon.

Traders have been praised for their hard work and determination by Evesham Market Town Partnership Manager, Lew Hammond, who has been visiting flood-hit businesses to find out how the recovery has been going.

He said: "My estimate is that it will be back to normal in Evesham by Spring 2008. This is tribute to all the good work done in the years after the 1998 flood where the recovery took six years, whereas the recovery period this time should be more like nine months."