A pub is counting the cost of last Friday night's torrential downpour.

The Malt Shovel at Harden had to be evacuated when water cascaded into the Wilsden Road building.

The cellar was completely flooded and there were several inches of water in the bar area.

The incident happened at around 9.50pm when the pub was packed.

Now landlord Keith Bolton is calling for action to improve drains in nearby Bents Lane, which he says cannot cope in heavy rain. He says: "We have been here eight years and this is the third flood - and the worst - we have had. The water came gushing through the back door. We had to get customers out because we were concerned about the electrics.

"Stock has been ruined and carpets are a total mess."

The pub was forced to stay shut until Sunday evening as a major clean-up operation got under way and new stock was organised.

Mr Bolton estimates that the cost in terms of damage and lost trade will run into thousands of pounds. He adds: "I have contacted the council numerous times before about the Bents Lane drains which simply cannot take the water, but nothing has been done."

Bradford council's highways department says its emergency service was inundated with calls during last Friday night's storm. A spokesman adds: "Following a police alert, flood warning signs were erected in Harden Road early on Saturday morning. We have since checked all the gullies from Bents Lane down to the Malt Shovel pub and there are no blockages. The flooding appears to have been caused because the drains had to cope with an unusually high volume of water in a short space of time. We have delivered sandbags to the pub which should help avert flooding in similar situations in future."

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