A woman was rescued after her car got stuck in flood water in Cornwall. The fire service were called to help the woman near the village of Menheniot, located around two and a half miles south east of Liskeard, late last night (Tuesday, January 28).

A crew arrived to help the woman at around 11.30pm. They found that her car was stranded in two to three foot deep water.

The fire service has since urged people to avoid driving through flood water. They added that motorists should take extra care while driving at night.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said: "An appliance from Liskeard attended a call to assist a female to safety after she became stuck in her car as a result of driving into flood water. On arrival the crew found the vehicle to be stranded within 2 to 3 foot deep water."

The fire service issued the following advice to motorists:

  • Every year people lose their lives when their vehicles enter the water, some of those occur during periods of flooding when water encroaches on to normally well drained carriageways or when normally benign river crossings (fords) become raging torrents.
  • Avoid driving through floodwater and never attempt to cross if you don’t know how deep the water is, less than 60cm of standing water will float many cars.
  • Do not try to cross fast moving water at flooded fords, overtopped bridges or flooded roads only 30cm of flowing water could move a car off a road.
  • Even if the water level is not excessive the road beneath could be damaged or the hard-core below the tarmac may have been washed away by the scouring action of the water, causing the road to collapse when the weight of a vehicle passes over it.
  • Take particular care at night when it might be difficult to see patches of standing water or flooded roads.
  • Do not ignore road closed signs they are there for a reason. If you come across impassable roads or have to abandon your car inform the Police.
  • Don’t assume fords are safe to cross just because the road is not closed, always look at the river level gauge and use your common sense.