THESE giant pipes were not enough stop the main Worcester to Hereford road at Bransford from flooding.

Installed in March 2003, it was hoped that the 10 1.64 metres (1-8 yards) wide pipes under the raised road would drain excess water.

When they failed to do that on Tuesday evening, the A4103 had to be closed and a number of houses flooded, showing just how unprecedented the water levels were.

The road remained closed throughout yesterday.

The Fox Inn at Bransford has been badly affected, at one point water levels inside reached table height.

Landlord David Swinbourn estimated that he would be closed for well over a month.

"It's devastating," he said. "Everything is ruined - the floor, the furniture, the glasses. We didn't have time to move anything upstairs. Water started to come across the main road and just carried on rising."

Mr Swinbourn, his wife Karen, son Kyle, aged 14, and daughter Jordan, aged 12, are stuck inside, waiting for the water to go down.

"There's just nothing else we can do," said Mr Swinbourn. "We could call the fire brigade and get out via boat - but where would we go? This is our home."

Jon Fraser, Worcestershire County Council's community and response manager, said: "The fact that the road at Bransford is under water shows the unprecedented levels of flooding we're experiencing. The scheme was drawn up to deal with historic issues of flooding in the area, so the specifications were therefore based on water levels recorded over a number of years.

"Hopefully, Worcester News readers can see from the picture exactly how high the road has been raised and the huge capacity of the drainage installed.

"It's a perfect illustration of how impossible it's been for us to predict the amount of flooding we've experienced during what has been the wettest June on record."

It took three weeks and cost £1 million to install the drainss and raise the road by 20in (50cm).