WINCHESTER city centre is preparing for more bad weather as the downpour continues in one of the wettest winters on record.

Sandbags have been strategically placed across house entrances up and down Water Lane in case the river level continues to rise.

Nathan Khan, who works at the bar, 5 Bridge Street, said: “We’ve got a bit of water in our basement but you can still access it but I still think I’m going to have to get some sandbags. Pizza Express was closed yesterday because they had flooding in their basement.”

The Weirs was closed earlier today and council workers later chained up the entrance way on Bridge Street.

But some other parts of Winchester has suffered relatively little damage.

Kate Smith, 39, of Fromond Road in Weeke, said: “We’ve had some damage in our back garden and to our fences from all the wind but it’s not been too bad with the flooding. But my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Laura, is quite happy with all the puddles. Everyone else is miserable whereas she’s happy she gets to wear her welly boots so often.”

James Bale, 42, of Wordsworth close in Fulflood, said: “Despite the name of where we live it’s not been too bad at all. I came down here with my daughter, Charlotte (3), so she could play on the swings after swimming lessons. But we weren’t sure if we’d be swimming in the pool or the river Itchen this morning!”