A West Dorset café has re-opened just days after it was devastated by flooding.
The Watch House Café in West Bay was described by staff as being a ‘puddle inside,’ with the outside deck becoming a ‘swimming pool’ following the wrath of Storm Ciarán last Thursday.
An eye-witness described the moment the East Beach café was flooded out as 'a huge wave crashing down over the Watch House'.
Thanks to a collective of staff, volunteers and a local building company, tremendous efforts were made to restore the café to its former glory and allowed it to reopen on Saturday, November 4.
A spokesperson for the Watch House Café said: "We fully re-opened on Saturday morning, thanks to the support of G&R General Builders and our amazing staff.
“The plan was always to get open again for the weekend and we stuck to it – as we didn’t want to let down our valued customers.”
The G&R General Builders team got stuck in and brought down their machinery to assist with shifting a large amount of sand and debris which had accumulated outside of the premises.
Another team member explained that ‘there was a fair bit of work to do,’ and crews of staff and volunteers gathered at the café from ‘first thing’ the following morning to help with the clean-up.
Significant flood damage had also been done to the café’s interior, with a member of staff explaining that they were watching the West Bay webcam which livestreams a view of West Bay and Bridport Harbour, when they saw a ‘huge wave crash down over the Watch House.’
The team at the beach front café was advised to stay away during the storm.
On the day of the storm, a spokesperson said: “All of the staff are okay, but the Watch House is currently underwater. We have only just had a refurbishment.
"It’s a puddle inside and the deck is a swimming pool. We were left to fend for ourselves, it’s just not safe – we were told to stay away.”
Refurbishment works were undertaken to the café in early October.
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