February 23, 2001 9:28: THE worst floods in living memory have turned roads into rivers and left massive lakes forming across South Bucks.

Haddenham Valley, Bradenham Valley and the Hambleden Valley are all suffering from serious flooding.

Thames Water has given up tankering water claiming it to be a waste of time.

It has predicted that around a million gallons of water is still to come out of the ground, which needs to disperse.

Mike Knight, area manager for Buckinghamshire County Council, said: "We have huge problems which we are really struggling to cope with.

"We would ask the public to be patient as there are some things we just can't solve and this is one of them."

He added: "We have got flooding in all the major valleys and it is having a huge effect on property, roads and land. There is so much water we just can't control it."

The Hamble Brook, which runs through the Hambleden Valley has burst its banks, causing misery for residents in Turville, Skirmett, Hambleden and Mill End.

Roderick Baird, a Hambleden parish councillor, who lives in the village square which was flooded out last Monday, warned it was going to get worse.

He said: "Nobody in the village has ever seen anything quite like it in over 60 years. I'm one of the lucky ones. My home hasn't been flooded."

Cllr Baird said that residents were out digging channels last Monday through the allotments in Hambleden to release some of the water pressure.

Mr Knight said: "We will have a lot of clearing up to do when all this goes down. We just don't know when that will be.

"If we get a cold snap this weekend it is going to make winter maintenance work very hard.

"These are very worrying times, I have never known things to be this bad before."

Sub-zero temperatures are expected for the weekend with long light rain showers after Monday.

A spokesman for Thames Water said: "In Hambleden Valley the problem is our pumping station is under two foot of water, but it is still working. In Bradenham Valley we had tankers but we stopped using them when we realised they were ineffective against the sheer volume of water. In Haddenham Valley there have been problems with blocked sewage drains which have now been unblocked."

David Langton