As the swollen rivers Severn and Avon converged on the historic Gloucestershire market town of Tewkesbury yesterday, one family refused to leave despite flood waters nearly lapping their downstairs ceiling.

In the worst flooding for 60 years and with drinking water switched off for some, Gerry Boazman repeatedly turned down the offer of being airlifted from the roof of White Bear public house because he feared that it could kill his ageing border collie, Katie.

The pub landlord had spent three days trapped upstairs as flood waters continued to rise, at one point reaching 1.8 metres (6ft). Emerging on to the roof, with his wife, Jane, and son David, he said: “We couldn’t leave Katie, she’s 14, weighs 8 stone and has arthritis and couldn’t be winched to safety. We have everything we need here. One of our customers has a boat and they have been bringing us food.

“For some reason, we have electricity upstairs so have a few of life’s pleasures. Everything is ruined downstairs. We couldn’t believe how fast the flood waters rose. But, as we like to say, we are the famous White Bear, we never go under.”

The medieval town, which nestles between the Cotswolds and Malvern Hills and holds an annual Water Festival and Mop Fair, is renowned for its timber-framed, black-and-white buildings dotted throughout narrow alleyways and courts. The majority of those paths, along with main roads to the town, were closed by the swollen river confluence yesterday.

The only way into the town was on a muddy, raised and disused railway track. On one side of the tracks in the Newtown district, a flooded housing estate was evacuated by the RNLI and firefighters. On the other side, the tops of cars, tractors and forklift trucks poked out above brown water.

At 3am yesterday, Dave Devereux got up to begin his battle against the rising River Avon. His cottage, the Stables, lies just a few feet from King John’s Bridge, at the north end of Tewkesbury. “I remember seeing my dad’s photographs of the famous 1947 floods. But this is far worse,” he said. He, with his neighbours, had built a sturdy wall of sandbags and borrowed a pump to try to keep the water at bay. “I think we will keep it out. The cottages around the corner have already lost that battle, they have been flooded out. We have their furniture upstairs.

“We’ve had the great flood, now we await the great surge when high tide hits at midnight.” Next door, David Mitchelson, 65, and his wife, Leelea, 61, were house-sitting their friends’ cottage. Sipping tea after bailing out water that breached the defences, Mr Mitchelson said: “We’re holidaying in Tewkesbury-on-Sea. We have our own beach. I have been named the technical adviser, which means I will get the blame when the water comes into the cottages. I hope it doesn’t, the owners are relying on me.”

Some patients at the town’s hospital were rescued after a treatment works in nearby Mythe was flooded and closed, shutting down much of the water to the town. Locals were urged to conserve supplies of water. Staff at the Salvation Army centre, which has opened its doors to those moved from their homes, had problems buying bottled water after supermarkets sold out. Even Tewkesbury Abbey was helping. Its hall opened to offer refuge to the newly homeless.

Phil Awford, the borough mayor, praised the population of 10,000 in the town: “They have been tremendous. There have been superb offers of help from shops, supermarkets and locals. We have always feared what would happen when the Severn and Avon rivers would both be flooded at the same time and would inevitably hit us. We now know.”

Last night, candles became the most prized commodity as rumours spread that the electricity could be cut. With a few days’ respite expected, fears were growing that more rain would be on its way in the next few days. Severn Trent Water said that water supplies would start to fail soon.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Anne Darwin's performance of a lifetime
• Renaissance for canals as new boaters come aboard
• Case study: forced to marry a cousin at 17