THOUSANDS of pounds damage was caused in Ashburton overnight after five properties were flooded when a garden wall collapsed into the River Ashburn.

Teignbridge Council teams are at the scene of devastation in Blogishay Lane building a sandbag wall to stop further inundation. Some 700 bags have so far been supplied.

None of the affected terraced homes has been evacuated, although all of them were left with at least six inches of water running through ground floors at the height of the flooding.

A group of workers from Teignmouth Maritime Services (TMS) and other volunteers were hoping to tame the floodwater by this evening, exactly 24 hours after the drenching disaster happened.

The catastrophe started yesterday at about 3pm when two sections of rear garden wall in St Lawrence Lane tumbled into the river, causing water levels in one part to rise and flood the garden from where the water slowly seeped up into the properties in Blogishay Lane.

TMS workers, brought in by Teignbridge Council, were joined by Environmental Agency officials in helping out at the location near the bottom of St Lawrence Lane.

Ashburton Town Council town clerk Bruce Broughton said from the scene this afternoon: ‘Everyone has worked well together. The river water just rose and formed a lake which has flooded into the five properties. Everyone is OK, but it is pretty desperate.’

Staff at the Dartmoor Lodge Hotel had offered affected families alternative accommodation for the duration of the drama.

For the moment casualties have been minded to stay put and not move out.

‘No one has had to evacuate,’ said Mr Broughton.

He revealed that the town’s flood alleviation scheme would be used to re-route excess water to allow easier access to the hazardous area around the breached wall.

‘Hopefully there will be no more rain – and the river levels will drop,’ he said.

Local councillor Charlie Dennis said from one of the worst affected properties, Greenaway Lodge, this afternoon: ‘Some very helpful men from TMS went into the river this morning to retrieve a lot of the wall debris. This has allowed the water to flow better and bring the levels down.’

He revealed that the major damage was caused this morning after heavy overnight rainfall on Dartmoor descended on the town.

He added: ‘The whole operation worked very well. Everyone buckled down and did a great job.’