Private stream 'caused Clovelly flooding'
A stream was the cause of flash flooding in a Devon fishing village, the Environment Agency has said.
Privately-owned Clovelly suffered extensive flooding on Thursday after the stream at the top of the village burst its banks.
About 12 properties were flooded and cobbles were pulled up from the street, although no-one was injured.
Chris Smith, from the Environment Agency, said: "The stream simply couldn't cope and overflowed."
'Reminiscent of Boscastle'
Mr Smith said: "There is a privately-owned stream at the higher end of the village that filled to over-flowing and that sent the water pouring down the main street.
"It was simply the heavy, intense rainfall that happened and in a sense it was reminiscent of what happened in Boscastle in Cornwall."
The tearooms run by Bill Legg and his wife Pauline for 20 years were badly affected by the floods.
Mrs Legg said: "[It was] absolute chaos. It was just coming down like a great big river and it just came through, you couldn't stop it. It took 20 years to build it up and I loved my tea shop."
Mr Legg said: "All the carpets are gone, a lot of the electrical stuff was under the water. [I'm] totally shocked to be honest. I didn't know what to do."
Residents said about 2ins (6cm) of rain fell in an hour, with the main part of the village - a popular tourist destination - the worst area affected.
The fishing village is traffic-free and has been owned by the same family since 1738.
Parts of Tiverton, Holsworthy, Sutcombe Mill and Bude in north Cornwall also experienced flooding on Thursday.
There remain eight flood warnings in place for the county.
In 2004, the Cornish village of Boscastle suffered millions of pounds worth of damage after the River Valency burst its banks, causing about 440 million gallons of water to sweep through the village.