A BRANSGORE lane flooded for weeks has been cleared of water by rescuers - and the parish council chairman.

Following the wettest January in almost 250 years, villagers have been virtually cut off as Derritt Lane has been impassable for several weeks.

Cars have become marooned after trying to drive up the road, where the water in some places was almost two feet deep at times.

Volunteers have been pulling cars from the flooded lane for weeks, with a police vehicle one of those stuck earlier this month.

But on Thursday afternoon, Bransgore Parish Council chairman Richard Frampton borrowed a pump from a fellow farmer and took matters into his own hands.

He worked from 3pm until 11pm on Thursday and again for four hours the next day pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of water until the road was clear.

According to Mr Frampton, the pump removed 400 gallons of water every minute into a local stream.

He was helped by Wessex Fire and Rescue Service and Fire Aid International, both based at Merryfield Park.

Mr Frampton said: “I finished around 11pm on Thursday and on Friday morning the ground water had risen again so we got to work.

“We realise that Hampshire County Council have got to target their resources at places like Winchester and Romsey and we just wanted to help clear the road.

“The road is still closed though, as a council surveyor needs to come and check it.

“All the little back roads used as diversions are not built to the same standard as even Derritt Lane, and they are taking all the heavy traffic and they are all disintegrating.”

Simon Rowley, founder of business Fire Aid International, said he and helpers including the owner of Wessex Fire and Rescue Service, Keith Allgood, had been lending a hand to help on Friday.