A cafe forced to close after the river Avon burst its banks in Bradford in Avon in February has chosen a Noah’s Ark theme for its re-opening, claiming to have ‘survived the floods’.

Victoria Vyse, 26, and her partner Peter Whipp, 28, will see their sandwich shop Out To Lunch, in Silver Street, re open on Monday (June 1) four months after it was swamped by floodwater. They had only opened the store six months previously and estimate their losses at £20,000 in lost custom and repairs, which was mostly covered by insurance payouts.

“I was quite upset to have to close the business so soon after opening,” said Miss Vyse.

“It has been a bit of a longer process then we thought.

“We have had to strip everything right down to the bare walls and the insurance process has delayed things as well.

“Obviously the closure meant we lost staff. One of our employees was going travelling anyway but another has had to find work elsewhere.

“Luckily though, two Saturday girls and a delivery driver are prepared to come back.”

A buy-one-get-one-half-price deal will be offered on the day in keeping with the Noah’s Ark theme - ‘customers arriving two-by-two’.

Flooding followed a series of severe snow storms in west Wiltshire in early February, which placed pressure on businesses, motorists and the emergency services.

Miss Vyse, who owns a second cafe in Bath, arrived at her shop on the morning of February 11 to find the kitchen under two foot of water.

Despite preparing for flooding with sandbags, she had to throw out two freezers, a fridge, and all of its contents after discovering them floating in the water.