Wolverhampton man rescued from Welsh floods

A holiday-maker from Wolverhampton rescued from floods in Aberystwyth, which locals say are the worst for 50 years, today spoke of the drama, telling how he heard children screaming and crying.

Dozens of people were today rescued or evacuated as a major operation was launched in the early hours.

James Simmonds, 23, from Wolverhampton, was staying at Riverside Caravan Park with a friend in his parents' caravan and had to be rescued by a fire service boat after flood waters started to rise.

"There were loads of children at the site who were screaming and crying, they were really frightened," said the account manager, who was rescued at 7.35am today.

"It's really nasty. Luckily the RAF rescue helicopter was out and flying around, they saved some people but we got rescued by a fire boat," he said.

Pat Edwards, 56, whose partner Stephen South runs Riverside Caravan Park, said they had not seen flooding like it in 50 years. She said the downstairs of her house was flooded with about eight inches of water.

She added: "We got a lot of our stuff out of the way, but things like the sofa are ruined."