STAFF at a Witney dental practice thought they had got away without being flooded during wet weather earlier this year.

But weeks after removing sandbags, because they felt the danger from the nearby River Windrush had passed, a boiler burst and leaked water through the 200-year-old building, causing £90,000 of damage.

High Street Dental Practice, which remained open despite the damage in March, has now renovated its premises.

Practice manager Judith Carlisle said: “We had been watcing the weather forecasts every day for a couple of months and breathed a sigh of relief we had got through without flooding.

“We felt the danger had passed by the end of February and it was just a few weeks after when we had taken away the sandbags that this happened. It was just bad luck.”

One weekend in March a cleaner smelled damp when she entered the building and found an inch of water on the floor, after the boiler, which was serviced two weeks previously, burst.

The practice, which has 3,500 patients, remained open but had fewer rooms available to treat patients while builders carried out repairs.

An insurance payout covered the cost of new dental equipment and ceilings and floors.

Dentist Julie Owen, who owns the practice with her husband and fellow dentist Anil Baboolal, said: “For anyone who is self-employed and has invested in it for more than 20 years it’s heartbreaking to see something like that when you’ve built it up for a long time.

“In the cold light of the next day you pick yourself up to sort it out and work out how you get back up.”

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