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FLOODY HELL
Moment Scots bar is hit by furious flooding as drenched staff frantically battle against thunderstorms
A SCOTS bar was hit by furious flooding last night as torrential rain battered the country.
Dramatic video shows staff from King Cons in Stirling frantically trying to stop water from getting inside as it barrelled down the city's hilly King Street.
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Workers were seen desperately trying to barricade the entryway to keep the raging water out.
The packed boozer was full of punters enjoying the start of Stirling Uni's Freshers' Week when the floods hit.
Bar staff were forced to clear the pub as they scrambled to protect the business.
But despite their best efforts, owner Nicky O'Neill, 42, is now facing an estimated £7k repair bill and is losing trade at the start of one of the busiest weeks of the year for Stirling pubs.
She told The Scottish Sun: "It was the start of Freshers' Week yesterday, we had live music going but we had to clear the bar when that happened.
"All of our new furniture has been ruined. We had to use them as barricades to stop the water coming into our unit and other units on the street because they weren't here at that time of night.
"The carpeted area at the front door is ruined and our paintwork is all marked. We're relatively new so all of this hasn't been here that long.
"There's water at the top of the street to all the debris and rocks that have been washed down the road and at our front door, it's just manky."
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Nicky's outdoor furniture - which cost £2,700 - has been completely ruined.
She laid the blame on Stirling Council for the bad floods and claimed traffic calming measures have made flood water much worse.
She also accused council bosses of "ignoring" the issue hammering local businesses.
She said: "It's all to do with how they narrowed the road for traffic calming at the top of the town. So when it rains the water has to go through a much narrower area, making it quicker, deeper and ends up like a river.
"And there is no longer any sand between the cobbles so there is no natural drainage, it just becomes a waterslide."
Nicky claimed all of the drains on King Street were blocked, only adding to the flood problem.
She continued: "Various council workers walked past us today and no one offered to help, there was even a lorry full of brooms that went by us and they won't help because its not their remit, its disgraceful.
"We were told by a worker they couldn't help clean the front of the building because the power washer was broken and one of the road sweepers had broken down."
She added: "They've tripled our rates and spent millions on cycle lanes but they should be spending money on the infrastructure that's already here which is clearly flawed and causing damage to businesses.
"They told us the power washer wasn't working and the road sweeper was broken. Where is our money going if council services don't have the equipment to do their jobs?"
"It's not as if this is a new issue, they are well aware of it. It happens all the time and they just ignore it."
But the bar owner is determined to be back in business by tonight as she and her staff race to get the pub ready.
She continued: "We were cleaning up this morning. We need to be open for tonight because we have events planned for this entire week."
A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “We recognise the impact of the recent flash flooding on affected businesses following Sunday’s intense rainfall, and we are working with Scottish Water to review the drainage infrastructure in the city centre.”
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“Road drainage systems in this area of the city centre are regularly maintained to manage surface water. These were most recently cleaned at the start of August.”
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