Flood victims in Diss have spoken of the moment they had to evacuate their homes as a torrent of water gushed through their back gardens towards their patio doors.

Heavy rainfall on August 6 caused a drain on higher ground behind their homes in Mission Road to start overflowing and the water to flow down the slope into the back gardens of three homes.

Firefighters from Diss were called to remove the water from the three gardens at 7.15pm and the crew remained at the scene until 8.30pm.

One tenant, who did not wish to be named, said the water level in her garden reached as high as the top of the bottom brick on her wall, or about two inches, at which point she called the fire service.

She said flooding in her garden was a particular problem during heavy rainfall because the camber of the road meant the water cascaded onto her land from the drain. However, in the latest incident water did nto get into her home.

She added: 'I was really scared. If the water had come another 10cms I would have water on my living room floor.'

Her neighbour, who was also renting her property, said she called her landlord when the water came into the garden before going out.

She added when she returned the situation had been resolved and the drain behind the properties had been unblocked.

The same night, firefighters were also sent to High Road in Needham to assess flooding. The firefighter gave advice only and no other action was required by firefighters.