20/07/2009 - Flooded farmer still in caravan
A farmer who was forced to leave his home after the UK's worst flooding for 60 years is still living in a caravan two years later.
Phil Benson, from Thrupp, between Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, was among the thousands of people forced from their homes after heavy rain led to flash foods on July 20, 2007 - causing £3 billion of damage and leaving 13 people dead.
After the banks of the River Thames swelled and burst, Mr Benson's Victorian farmhouse and land was besieged with water. In the wake of the flooding, his home of 15 years has become a building site.
Mr Benson, 48, said his business has also suffered, with delays to his insurance claim forcing him to run his agricultural contractors firm from the caravan. His insurers said the claim cannot be completed until they have the outcome of a planning application to build an extension to the house.
Mr Benson said: "At the time I understand that insurance companies were finding it difficult to handle the volume of claims, but I have been left in disarray. "
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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