A shop in Ramsgate town centre was flooded today after heavy rain came through the back door just three weeks after the shop opened.

Around 10 people have been working to clear up The Haberdashery & Fabric Shop since they found it flooded this morning.

The clean-up took them more than three hours before were they able to start serving customers again.

The owners had only recently bought the shop in August and opened on December 15.

Shop assistant Zoe Johnson, 41, said: "I came in this morning in the front entrance just before 9am and went out to the back.

"That's when I saw it coming in down the stairs and rapidly into the shop. I opened the back door and it started to flood.

"It was absolute panic with everybody rushing to get a mop and clear some of the water.

"I couldn't believe how quickly the water came in, by the time I had come back into the shop to tell people, the whole back was flooded and water was coming into the shop front..." - shop assistant Zoe Johnson

"I couldn't believe how quickly the water came in, by the time I had come back into the shop to tell people, the whole back was flooded and water was coming into the shop front."

Luckily there was no damage to stock as the shelves in the backroom kept all the items off the floor.

Shop manager Amanda Rooke, 35, said: "We were never told of the flooding issue before we moved to this shop.

"We had heard through a third party that they had issues with flooding in the past but we were never told by the previous owners.

"If we had known it might have put a second thought into buying this place but luckily there was no damage, just some wet feet and all hands on deck to get it cleared up."

There are plans for making a bigger soakway to prevent this happening again.