Hemel Hempstead shopping centre fully re-opens after flash flooding

The Marlowes shopping centre in Hemel Hempstead has now fully re-opened following the flooding in the centre on Wednesday afternoon.

The heavy rain caused flooding in the shopping centre and a number of shops were affected.

The shopping centre was forced to close on Wednesday afternoon and the car park and some retailers remained closed yesterday morning.

A spokesman for The Marlowes said: "Unfortunately we were forced to close The Marlowes shopping centre early on Wednesday afternoon due to flooding caused by a severe thunderstorm which overwhelmed the local Thames Water drainage system.

"Once an urgent damage and safety assessment was undertaken, followed by a clean-up operation, we were able to reopen the centre on early Thursday morning, once it was safe to do so.

"This type of incident is a rare occurrence and we have worked quickly to identify a preventative strategy to help manage similar incidents of extreme weather in the future.

"The centre, including the car park, is now fully open and we wish to thank all our customers and guests for their support and patience while we were dealing with this incident."

Hemel Hempstead was hit by bad weather on Wednesday evening with a number of flash floods across the town.

Police in Dacorum attended a number of reports across the borough where there was flooding due to the heavy rainfall.