FARMERS whose cash flow has dried up are being kept afloat by working wives.

At Clifton Lower Farm, Clive Gittins' wife June, is the emergency response co-ordinator for the Red Cross in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

"If it wasn't for the fact that I work we would be in serious trouble," she said.

Much of the land is still waterlogged after winter floods claimed three-quarters of their 400-acres. In some fields over 50 per cent of the crops have been wiped out.

Carol Allen, of Bury End Farm, Upton, works as an orthoptist.

Her husband Nick, said: "We don't take anything out of the farm. Carol pays all our living expenses."