A VILLAGE publican considered pushing the boat out last week after heavy rain forced a nearby brook to burst its banks.

Instead, Richard Shackelford from the Bridge Inn at Michaelchurch Escley settled for a wheelbarrow to keep his business afloat.

Mr Shackelford used his barrow to collect a delivery that had been dropped off behind a neighbour's garden fence.

Heavy rain last Wednesday night through to the following morning had forced the Escley Brook to overflow.

The pub was closed on Thursday lunchtime but opened as normal later that evening.