9:29 am, February 18, 2014
TWO Mitsubishi dealerships have been helping out their local flood-affected communities.
Chertsey Mitsubishi has had to temporarily close after their workshop and offices were flooded – but that hasn’t stopped the business helping locals.
The Thameside dealership, which is next to the main bridge in Chertsey, succumbed on Monday, February 10th, after weeks of persistent rain. And
sales manager Saul Hodder has been using a Mitsubishi L200 pick-up to deliver sandbags to local residents in the area.
‘I have been out delivering sandbags to people’s houses. The water has gone down a bit but we’re expecting more bad weather,’ said Hodder.
‘I have been coming in and looking after the place and the offices are ok now but the workshop is still full of water. We can carry on with day-to-day admin here but we’ve had to close the dealership.’
The Army was brought in and they have put a large aquadam in place on the road outside the dealership to prevent more flooding, which has blocked access to the dealership.
Meanwhile a car dealership worker has been getting behind the wheel of a 4X4 to do his bit to help those affected by floods in Somerset.
Neil Priddle, after sales manager at Weston Super Mare Mitsubishi, has been helping to bag the sand before delivering it in a Mitsubishi L200 pick-up. The vehicle, which has been fitted with a light on the roof, has proved the perfect way of getting to homeowners in desperate need of sandbags.
Priddle, 31, who lives in Bridgwater, has spent two weekends and some evenings helping bag the sand before delivering the sandbags to people in Burrow Bridge, Moorland and North Newton. He has also helped reinforced the riverside footpath with woodchips between Burrow Bridge and Stathe.
Neil (pictured right) got involved after contacting the voluntary organisation Flood on the Levels Action Group (FLAG) and his boss at Weston Super Mare Mitsubishi, brand manager Glen Gilliam, was happy to let him borrow the vehicle to help out.
Priddle said: ‘I just couldn’t sit back and watch anymore. My best friend lives out in Moorland and they lost their house to the floods – they tried to stop the water but it came up through the floorboards.
‘I’ve been out in the pitch black, in the middle of nowhere, delivering sandbags. We couldn’t find one person’s house and I was on the phone to him and he spotted the light on top of the L200 so it’s ideal.’
