TWO Lymm businesses are making a desparate plea to the Environment Agency, the borough council and the Manchester Ship Canal company to help them keep their heads above water.

Janet Socorro from the Statham Lodge Riding Centre on Warrington Road and Harry Caddick from Caddick's Clematis nursery are at the end of their tether after being plagued by horrendous floods.

Janet runs a livery yard, stabling 40 horses with more living out in the fields, but because the weather has been so bad this winter, she has almost run out of places for the animals to graze.

Meanwhile, floods crashed through Harry's Clematis nursery, leaving 20,000 plants floating in water last autumn, ironically at the stage in the plants' growth programme when they need to be kept dry.

Harry will only know the true extent the disaster will have on his livelihood next spring, and which could see him losing stock worth thousands of pounds.

Excess water from the Thelwall Viaduct, the motorway services and developments across the village runs down onto their land, and despite extensive building in recent years, the EA and the ship canal company have done nothing to improve drainage systems.

Janet said: "All the water from the top end of Lymm comes through our land and on to Thelwall Brook. They need to put a better system in or a pump to help the water get away.

"The banks are starting to crumble.

"We feel like we are the flood zone for the whole area. We see all the development that has gone on but they just don't think about us, they need to think about the repercussions. The council needs to start investing money here."

Clr Ian Marks is setting up meetings with the EA and the Manchester Ship Canal company and groups suffering from the floods.

He said: "The problem has been getting worse for many years and has not just been caused by the bad weather we had in the autumn.

"There is a real worry that recent building has had a fundamental effect on waterflows and drainage capacities. After all, the original drainage system was probably constructed a hundred years ago so it's no wonder there are problems today.

"The situation is complicated because there are three different agencies involved and each has separate responsibilities. That's why we need to get everyone round the table."