High Street businesses were “devastated” by flood water after a Wiltshire town experienced its “worst flooding since the 1960s.”

Chippenham town centre found itself underwater on Monday, November 25 after downpours during Storm Bert caused the River Avon to burst its banks.

Shops on the High Street were forced to close for the day while important routes into the town centre were also impassable, like The Bridge Centre Roundabout, and were closed by police.

While the water was cleared by Tuesday morning, businesses were left reeling in the aftermath of what many have described as the worst floods in Chippenham since 1968.

Multiple shops were still shut on Tuesday after suffering flood damage, including Emery Gate Shopping Centre, Tesco Express, Superdrug, the newly opened Starbucks, NatWest, G. Hatto Barbershop, and WHSmith.

READ MORE: Town centre deals with aftermath of serious floods

Flooding in ChippenhamFlooding in Chippenham (Image: Andrew Hughes) Cllr Nic Puntis, the portfolio holder for flooding at Wiltshire Council, said businesses in the lower part of the High Street had been flooded with “a metre of water.”

He added: “I’ve never seen Chippenham flooded like that, my parents said that 1968 was the last time it was that bad.

“In the 90s we had something that came in, but it wasn’t a metre of water like we’ve seen, it’s a one in 200-year event.

“It’s absolutely devastating for shops, there’s up to a metre of water in some of them… Starbucks is new and will now have to start again with their refit to a certain extent.

“Things have been damaged beyond use, Starbucks and Tesco’s fridges have gone, it’s huge.”

Residents were left shocked by the floods that submerged the town centre overnight.

Cllr Puntis added the situation was caused by a “perfect storm.”

He said: “A storm came through, stopped on top of Chippenham and dumped more rain than we normally get in a month on already wet ground.

“There’s nothing we can do about it, my job now is to help the businesses and residents with cleaning up and advice for grants and other funding that can help them.”

The flooding caused chaos on Chippenham’s roads and the town’s secondary schools were shut as a result.

Similar chaos has been seen elsewhere in Wiltshire, with Melksham, Bradford on Avon, and Malmesbury all hit hard by the River Avon bursting.

On Tuesday roads around the county remained shut, including in Bradford on Avon and Melksham town centres, causing long delays on main routes like the A350.

Meanwhile the River Biss in Trowbridge overflowed and the B3105 at Staverton also saw flooding making the route impassable.