Waterways began to burst their banks on the morning of Thursday, April 9, 1998, after almost 40mm of rain fell in 24 hours.

More than 200 people were rescued from flooded houses and taken to rest centres in Buckingham, while homes and businesses were hit in Brackley and Towcester, and villages north of Bicester were badly affected. No stranger to flooding, the region also recorded severe incidents in April 1908, October 1947, and in July last year. One of those businesses affected in both 1998 and last summer was Buckingham Ford in Ford Street, Buckingham.

Co-owner Ian Redding, recalls: "It was Good Friday 1998, and I was on a day off. Then I got a 'phone call to say, 'I think you should come and see this'.

"I was coming from Bicester, and just getting into Buckingham was difficult, but luckily I had a vehicle that could get through deep water.

"It was total devastation. Unlike some people, we hadn't had any warning."

Buckingham Ford had more than 30 cars written off in '98, compared to four lost in last summer's floods. Mr Redding said last summer's floods caused around £200,000 of damage – but those a decade ago cost around £100,000 more.

Also badly-hit in 1998 was Paynes Nurseries in Watling Street, Towcester.

Ian Morgan, director of Paynes Nurseries, said his most vivid memory was how fast the floodwater rose. It took all the glass off the front of the greenhouses and devastated the place. It took us a good six months to get straight again, and we were still rebuilding nine months later," Mr Morgan said.

A decade on from the devastating floods of '98, many climate experts are telling homeowners across the country to batten down the hatches in readiness for more warm, wet weather to come.

Buckingham is no closer to getting its long-awaited flood defences, although the Environment Agency has pledged to push forward plans for flood gates in Ford Street and up-river at Water Stratford.

Last month, Buckingham Town Mayor Cllr Howard Mordue met with Environment Agency staff to further discuss the town's flood problems as a follow-up to a public meeting in January. He said it is clear residents must keep pressure on Govern-ment agencies to make sure flood defences are built despite the high cost, estimated at £3million.

Cllr Mordue said: "Anything that helps is worthwhile. About 60 houses were affected in Buckingham last summer, and some families were in hotel accommodation six months later."