SHOPS are not the only businesses that have been affected by the flooding in Tenbury and the surrounding area.

There will also be an impact upon tourism, although the one good thing is that the flood happened at a relatively quiet time of the year for hotels, bed and breakfast establishments. Then there are also caravan sites and camp sites that will need to dry out.

Farmers and growers are already counting the cost of the weather.

Heavy rainfall during the autumn has seen fields inundated with water, says Little Hereford farmer and weatherman Derek Small.

This had already made it impossible for some farmers to get crops out of the ground and has affected the timing of the sowing of spring crops.

Flooding has made it difficult to even get specialised farm equipment onto the land.