A CLEAR-UP operation is underway after water poured into an historic Suffolk hotel and cut-off a residential street.

Russell Claydon

A CLEAR-UP operation is underway after water poured into an historic Suffolk hotel and cut-off a residential street.

Staff at the Mill Hotel in Sudbury are ensuring everything gets back to normal for their guests after a night of drama which saw the head chef bravely battling on with a pool of water rising around his feet.

Several people were deployed to frantically fight back the water - a result of a burst water main - with squeegees at the back of the kitchen.

Meanwhile the hotel's guests were told to fill up their room kettles with water before it was cut off by the water board.

Some 30 dinners in the 300-year-old building's restaurant were able to continue enjoying food and drink as usual though amid the chaos going on outside the hotel in Walnut Tree Lane.

This afternoon the road remains blocked off to traffic after the incident created a giant hole in the road surface.

Mark Dridge, general manager of the Mill Hotel, said he had been very impressed with how his staff reacted under the unusual circumstances.

“We were in the middle of our main dinner service at the time (8pm) and had about 30 dinners,” he said. “Our chef was very good and carried on.

“It did not come into the main bit much but was all around the freezer and bin area and fortunately he soldiered on while a couple of lads were trying to keep it out.

“It was like a big river running in. The Anglia Water board and the police were here very quickly and they got it in hand in about 45 minutes.”

He said despite the swift response time damage was caused to carpets in two of their smaller conference rooms and their car park was still inaccessible today with police tape around it.

Mr Dridge added: “We are back to normal today. Very minor damage has been caused and we are back up to strength.

“The hole in the road is huge.”

Another member of staff at the hotel said there had been an almighty noise when the incident happened.

A spokesperson for the Walnuttree Hospital, up the hill from the spot where the incident occurred, said kettles had been filled with water on the advice of emergency services, but they experienced no problems.