HOMES were devastated as the River Thames broke its banks spilling thousands of gallons of water across low-lying areas of Marlow, Medmenham, Cookham and Bourne End.

Emergency services were called out to evacuate residents who woke up last Thursday to find themselves cut off by the deluge.

Over the weekend, local authorities distributed hundreds of sandbags to homes affected by flooding, which rose to critical levels in just 38 hours.

Chris and Joanne Chamberlain, of Ferry Lane, Medmenham, said it was the worst flood they had experienced since they moved to the village 12 years ago.

Mr Chamberlain added: "The water came up so rapidly in just a day-and-a-half it is just unfortunate but what can you do about it? It doesn't matter how many sandbags you put down, it just comes through the floorboards."

Roads in Marlow, Bisham, Medmenham, Cookham and Bourne End had to be closed in what some people have branded the worst flooding in living memory.

Only the disruption caused by the great flood of 1947 where water entered more than 2,000 homes in Maidenhead can compare with the current flooding, they say.

The Met Office said 67mm of rain fell in the Thames area between December 21 and New Year's Eve just 4mm short of the normal average for the entire month.

A week later, houses in Pound Lane, Marlow, and Quarrywood Road, Bisham, are still flooded.

Residents of Ferry Lane, Medmenham, are also cut off by flood waters. The only way they can get out is via tractor or HGVs.

Joanne Chamberlain, a housekeeper at Medmenham Abbey in Ferry Lane, Medmenham, said: "It came so quickly and we were so upset. We all feel terribly emotional.

"We have saved as much furniture as we can but things like the panelling, skirting boards and carpets could not be salvaged."

In Cookham, traffic can only get into the village via the B4447 from Maidenhead because of flooding on the Bourne End side of the Cookham Bridge and on the A4094 at Widbrook Common.

The road across Cookham Moor is submerged by water and temporary traffic lights are controlling a single lane of vehicles using The Causeway to Cookham Village.

As flood levels slowly subside residents are querying the effect of the £100 million Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton Flood Alleviation Scheme completed last year.

The 11.6km Jubilee River was built parallel to the Thames to provide relief at times of high flow and a series of weirs and sluices were built to control the flow into Maidenhead. But while homes in Maidenhead stayed dry, houses and roads upstream experienced the highest water levels on record.

More localised flood prevention measures were also unable to cope.

In Marlow's Pound Lane, Buckinghamshire County Council spent about £500,000 building a complex system of pumps to channel surface water back into the River Thames.

Although the system held out until last Saturday, it could not function when the river levels rose again overnight.