Marshalls battles through flood

‘Eight inches of rain in five minutes’ does not dampen operator’s spirits

Marshalls of Sutton-on-Trent reports not suffering any disruption to its services despite flooding having hit one of its depots.

The operator’s secondary yard by the A1 was flooded on Saturday 2 June. One of the company’s directors, Sally Sloan, said the site saw eight inches of rain fall in five minutes. She explained: “A dam further up failed and the water came gushing under the A1 and through the nearby villages and into our yard.”

As the water came in, the company was able to evacuate every vehicle except two service buses. There were also a number of employees’ cars which were unable to be removed and two pool cars. One of the immediate worries was whether the operator could get enough double-deckers running in time for school services the following Monday, but Sally was relieved to say they did. “There were a number of wet seats though,” she said. “We had to cordon-off some of them.”

At the time of going to press, no serious damage to vehicles or property was reported and no disruption to other services was experienced. Sally said: “There is just a lot of cleaning up now, a lot of mopping up. It leaves a slimy mess. We have had a lot of help from family and employees.”

Marshalls published pictures of the flooding at its depot on Facebook. It received support from followers on its social media, with comments such as: “That’s terrible news, hope you are soon back up and running at full capacity.”

Marshalls has recently been accepted into the Guild of British Coach Operators (see B&CB 1479, 11 May 2018).