The owner of a Turkish restaurant in Chalfont St Peter has pleaded with residents to visit his establishment after rumours circulated that his business had closed due to the village's ongoing flooding issues.

Engin Baskan, who runs the Yaprak Turkish Restaurant along the High Street, was one of the 350 people who attended the recent public flood meeting on April 16.

Many locals descended to the civil parish’s Gold Hill Baptist Church to speak to delegates from Buckinghamshire Council, Thames Water and the Environmental Agency about the current issues.

Heavy rain from storms led to the River Misbourne overflowing at the start of this calendar year, which caused parts of the village to flood.

This was coupled with water entering the sewage system which began to overflow.

By mid-February, human waste had made its way onto the streets of Chalfont St Peter, and in some cases, out of people’s sinks in their respective properties. 

The tumultuous saga remains ongoing, as the main slip road leading motorists out of the village remains closed.

This is directly opposite the Yaprak restaurant, with many assuming that the well-respected business is shut, well, in fact, it’s very much open.

Speaking to the Free Press back in February, Mr Baskan revealed he had to cancel around 200 bookings across two days, losing out on roughly £20,000.

Despite this, he still must pay his staff their monthly salary.

After the meeting on April 16, he told the Free Press: “Thank you to everyone who has helped us over the last few months.

“It’s very much appreciated, but things are still hard.

“The road is still blocked, the tanker is outside our business and people think we’re not open.

“This year has been tough but despite that, we’ve only been closed for a few days because of the flooding.

“Please, come and visit us – we’re not closed.

"People have stopped me in the street asking why Yaprak is closed, and they think that because the road is closed."

Compensation discussions were mentioned at the public Q&A, with Thames Water confirming that they would help businesses that have been impacted. 

David Harding, who was the representative for Thames Water on the evening, said: “When I was on the stage making the offer to talk to businesses individually [regarding compensation], I did think that it might be more efficient if the Chamber of Commerce got involved.

“I’ve not long spoken to someone from the CoC for Chalfont St Peter, and they have agreed to set up a meeting at a venue where members of the chamber and local businesses can meet our insurance experts and talk to them about the claims.”