A COUNTRY pub is cut off by rising flood waters - but you can still get a pint for now provided you bring your wellies and don't fall out of the boat.

The Camp House Inn at Grimley next to the encroaching River Severn north of Worcester is now surrounded by rising flood waters.

But staff are used to it and have been ferrying customers across by boat - come hell or high water, regulars still made their way for a pint at the Camp - and today is no different.

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You could be forgiven for looking at the besieging tide and muttering 'shiver me timbers' rather than 'a pint of your best please landlord' as the waters rise.

There is a tale told at the pub - more than a local legend - that a journalist fell out of the boat once, taking most of her equipment with her into the icy depths.

So people, especially reporters, tread gingerly as they step in and out of the punt used to ferry them across the wind-swept water.

The atmosphere is cosy inside - regulars are sat huddled by a roaring fire, listening with concern but considerable forbearance and good gallows humour to the latest grim predictions about river peaks upriver in Shrewsbury. 

There are plaques by the fireplace showing previous flooding high water marks in 2000. The highest level, which is not recorded, is believed to be 1947.

Worcester News: ENDURANCE: Flood plaques on the fireplace record previous floods inside the pub itself ENDURANCE: Flood plaques on the fireplace record previous floods inside the pub itself (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

Jo Wainwright-Scarrott, the assistant manager, is more boatswain than barmaid as she ferries customers across 'the moat' for a well-earned pint.

She says the regulars return the favour by mucking in with mops and marigolds after the flood waters recede.

Worcester News: HELLO: A peacock peeks in the window of the Camp as waters rise to their peak HELLO: A peacock peeks in the window of the Camp as waters rise to their peak (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

The 44-year-old said: "We hope to stay open - but it's in the lap of the gods. We are in God's hands at the moment - old mother nature. It's old hat to us.

"The waters are rising faster than normal. We bring the customers here by boat and bring them back in the boat by dark. We're a bit of a moat."

Worcester News: COSY: Lyn Wainwright enjoys a seat by the fire as the waters rise around the Camp House Inn COSY: Lyn Wainwright enjoys a seat by the fire as the waters rise around the Camp House Inn (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

The pub has been run by the same family since 1939. Though the floods have come and gone with the breweries, they have remained, stalwarts living by the water and working with it where they can.

Even the old tower, which functioned as a lighthouse and is reputed to date from the 14th century, is said to be built from the timbers of old ships. 

Roger Blackmore, 77, cycled to the pub before getting on the boat.

Jim Wainwright, who runs the pub and lives there with wife Lyn, smiles over at Mr Blackmore, and quips: "The water will be over your head if you stay sat there. I have seen the water rise to the top of the counter. Last February it was up to the plaque above the fireplace."

Mr Blackmore, a regular at the pub, said: "It has been my local watering hole for many years. The water is rising so fast now.

"I love the atmosphere and hospitality - and the people you get inside. People here have helped me at a low ebb and have looked out for me. When you know you have got the support it makes a lot of difference."