Parts of a primary school flooded the day before breaking up for the summer, with teachers using snow shovels and rugs to clear the water.

Parents of pupils at Barming Primary School were asked to prepare packed lunches for their children as the kitchen had flooded following torrential downpours in Maidstone and nearby areas yesterday.

The storm saw flash floods in parts of the borough and chaos on the roads, with trees also blocking routes.

In an email marked urgent, sent at 4pm yesterday, the school said: "As our kitchen is currently flooding, we will not be able to provide school meals tomorrow and all children will require a packed lunch.

"We are sorry again for the lateness of this notice but due to the extreme rain, our kitchen hall is flooding with no way to clear this ready for use tomorrow."

Speaking today, head teacher Chris Laker said two school halls had also flooded but the water had now been cleared.

He said: "Myself and most of the senior leadership team were mopping up water and using snow shovels.

"I can't be more thankful of the staff, they all mucked in.

"My poor caretaker's office was about an inch under water. You could wade through it.

"We were glad when the rain stopped. We were filling up bins, any containers we could find we were putting under drips. We had teachers using rugs as dams.

"You have to laugh about it, after the year we have had, with a pandemic, to end the year with a problem-solving exercise... a real team-building exercise."

He confirmed that no classrooms had been affected.

Although the kitchen and halls are no longer flooded, they could not be used today.

However, the school was still able to mark its last day with an inflatable outdoor assault course for Year 6 pupils.

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