Villagers living in one of the county's most at-risk areas for flooding fear a serious breach of the river banks could have devastating consequences for their homes.

Yet despite the high costs involved and the preparation to their homes needed the residents of Yalding say it's a "price worth paying".

The small village sits between three rivers – the Beult, the Teise, and the Medway – on the outskirts of Maidstone.

Nestled amid beautiful Kent countryside it is prone to regular flooding with alerts sent by the Environment Agency to residents every winter about the risk.

Along the lower part of the village each house has boarding struts to guard against the River Beult's banks bursting.

And with each passing year comes more regular bouts of heavy flooding.

KentOnline spoke to the villagers to ask what it's like living on a notorious floodplain and how people prepare for what is fast becoming a regular intrusion into their lives.

Seemingly the lowest building in the village is the Riverside cottage next to the Post Office.

Owned by the village's postmaster, Tim Chapman, it is a house that has been seriously impacted by its proximity to the water in the past.

Back in 2006 Tim escaped the London rat-race and moved to Yalding with his wife and daughter.

The 66-year-old was already familiar with life on a floodplain having previously come from Thamesmead, a former marsh which would be four metres under water twice a day but for London's Thames Barrier.

But since moving, Tim's house has been affected at least eight times by high water levels.

The worst of it came on Christmas Day 2013 when hundreds of families living in Maidstone and the surrounding villages woke to find their homes flooded.

Tim said: "We are one of the lowest houses in the village and right next to the river so we will get affected more than most.

"Christmas Day 2013 it came up to the middle of our ground floor windows.We had about 5ft of water in the house."

On that day various towns and villages along the River Medway were submerged and in Yalding more than 50 people had to be evacuated.

Due to excessive rain over a short period of time the rivers rose and the ground became saturated.

Homes were destroyed with residents having to wait months before they could return to inspect the damage.

Then Prime Minister David Cameron received a frosty reception when visiting affected residents and businesses in the aftermath.

It led to millions of pounds being pumped from central government into flood defence measures to prevent a repeat event on the same scale from occurring again.

For Tim, he and his family had to abandon their home for more than a year after moving as many possessions as they could upstairs.

"We basically abandoned the house for 15 months renting place after place. We added another floor to here after so where before we were a cottage we're now a house.

"Now we don't have to be living on the ground floor. We can abandon it if we need too."

The top floor extension was all funded by their insurance company.

Tim added: "Thankfully the insurance company were brilliant. We do pay a slightly higher premium because of our situation but it costs them an awful lot of money.

"They basically refunded our whole rebuild."

As well as the new floor the house has also been fitted with defences spanning across the whole ground floor.

A metre-high skirt circumnavigates the building with barricades on every entrance to the ground floor.

Several pumps have also been installed forcing any surface water under the house back away from the ground floor.

The whole downstairs is tiled and sits on top of a waterproof membrane – materials used to prevent the passage of water into a building or structure – installed by the previous owner who suffered a flood in 2000.

He had also installed the skirt two years later and all precautions help keep Tim's insurance premiums as low as possible.

"Now we don't have to be living on the ground floor. We can abandon it if we need too."

The postmaster said: "Our insurance went from £300 a-year to just over a grand. A big jump but there are some people here having to pay £10,000 because they don't have the same defences."

But Tim's property is still regularly impacted by flooding – once again in 2019 and twice in 2020.

On neither occasion did water get into the house and despite the ongoing threat Tim says he hasn't once thought of moving.

"Outside we have a bespoke defence system and most of the time it comes up, it protects us," he explains.

"It can wash around the house but when that happens we just go out in waders and park the car up the road so it's fine we just live with it."

"We love it here, we love the countryside, the people here. It's just a pain in the proverbial every now and then."

Another resident living close to the river is Dr Robin Schuldenfrei, who has lived in the 300 year-old Boathouse since 2014.

Her and her partner were originally able to rent the property after the initial buyers pulled out owing to the aftermatch of Christmas Day the previous year.

She said: "We actually rented here first as it was convenient for my commute to London.

"The first five years didn't flood at all but in more recent years we have had flooding events every winter."

Flooding at the Boathouse usually happens through the basement and Robin has had pumps similar to Tim's installed.

Preparation is key she explains. "Right now we check our pumps will trigger when we get alerts," says Robin.

"We do watch the weather so if we have plans to go away we can make sure we have someone who can be checking our pumps.

"Then if it is likely we will flood, we do lift some things from the basement."

She added: "It's important also, if you know you are going to lose power, that you cook a bunch of food, do any laundry you need to do and be careful not to put out too much household water as the sewers may also fill up.

The house itself sits at a unique point, perched on an island sandwiched between either side of the village and connected by bridge.

You can only access the house via this crossing with the Beult running either side of it before connecting up again further downstream.

However, it does mean the house is susceptible to flooding from multiple angles.

But Robin and her family attempt to make light of the situation and on one occasion decided to kayak in their own back garden.

And although there are serious risks which come with flooding, like Tim, Robin and her family couldn't imagine living elsewhere.

She said: "To us it's the price we pay for living in such a wonderful village and community and in a beautiful grade II listed building on the longest medieval bridge in Kent.

"That in itself I am willing to take two or three flooding events a winter to live in such a remarkable piece of architecture, coming from an architectural historian.

"Feeling as the caretaker of this 300 year-old home, that is the price we pay, but also we're committed to protecting it and keeping it from flooding and damaging the the foundation of the house."