Dumfries office of MP Russell Brown and MSP Elaine Murray hit by flooding

Nov 25 2009 by Craig Robertson, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

THE OFFICE of Labour politicians Russell Brown and Elaine Murray was hit hard by Friday’s flooding in Dumfries.

It sits at the bottom of Friars Vennel which was under almost two-foot of water in some parts.

Dumfries and Galloway MP Mr Brown said he had put out sandbags the night before knowing that potential flooding was on the way.

But he was shocked to see the River Nith had flooded so much that the water had reached his office and made it over the sandbags. It was said to be the worst since 1990 after a month’s rain fell in 24 hours.

Speaking on Friday morning outside the constituency office he shares with Dumfries MSP Dr Murray, he told the Standard: “This is the worst I have certainly seen it.

“There is a lot of mess in the office and a lot of our paperwork has been damaged along with entries to my Christmas card competition.

“We are going to try and salvage what we can. It is bad for us in the office but there are people here who have to keep their businesses open and it is a great shame that they have been flooded so bad.”

Along with the rest of the premises at the lower end of the Vennel, Mr Brown, Dr Murray and their members of staff spent most of Friday and Saturday clearing up the mess once the water had gone.

The MP added: “The reality is that this river has flooded for many, many years and it just keeps happening again. We have to have some sort of decent flood defences put in place after this. We had 18 inches of water in the office and the girls that work here are devastated.

“We can overcome this in the office but it might be a long time before some of the businesses recover.”

The water on Friday morning stretched about a third of the way up Friars Vennel at its peak leaving some residents stranded in their homes early in the morning.

Many businesses were flooded and had to carry out a major clean-up operation.