PA reports:

A couple set to be first-time parents in a month have been made homeless after flooding ravaged their ground-floor flat.

David Sandor and his wife Lidia, who is eight months pregnant, are due to have their first child on July 24 but now have to leave their Essex home for up to two months.

David's sister, Elizabeth Bodea, 28, who lives in a flat upstairs in the same block in Romford with her husband and another brother, said: "The rain started around 1am and around 3am the ground floor was flooded because the drainage couldn't cope.

"It was pouring like I have never seen in my life.

"We phoned the emergency services but they said they had to go to people in greater need.

"I am worried about my sister-in-law because I wanted to be there to help her with the baby. They have just bought all the baby stuff and some of it was damaged.

"Thankfully most of it was upstairs as the flat is two floors but their kitchen is destroyed."

Mrs Bodea shared a photo on social media of cars, including hers, submerged in floodwater outside Linton Court.

She said several neighbours' cars have been written off and they believe they were not covered by insurance.

Another neighbour who lives on the ground floor, Lucy Penfold, 28, who has a five-year-old son, has also been made homeless by the flooding.

She said: "We just woke up at 4.30am this morning and our home looked like a swimming pool. All the sofas are damaged and the carpets soaked.

"I don't want to leave my home.

"The fire brigade came round in the end but they couldn't do anything."

The neighbours are due to meet with the company which owns the building later.