February 12, 2001 14:17: A LANDLADY had to give it some welly to clear up four feet of water which gushed up from underwater springs into her cellar.

Sylvia Shippey, the manager of the Elephant and Castle pub in Old Amersham, said: "It was four feet deep on Monday when it all started. We thought it would drain away but it just gushed like a waterfall. All the barrels started rolling around and a lot of the stock was ruined.

"We have had the fire brigade out three times. We have tried to pump the water out but it just wasn't man enough for all this water."

Station Officer Peter Jones, of Amersham fire brigade, said: "It's just water from a spring that is flooding the cellar but there is a risk to the electrics so we have had to keep an eye on it.

"It's not like rain water which just clears up, because of the extreme weather the water table is high, and the spring is just pumping water constantly and they will probably have to suffer with it for quite a while until it goes down.

"They have pumps but with the amount of pressure it is hard for them to cope. They will have to wait until the water table goes down."