neighbour

"They were very nice neighbours in a very quiet neighbourhood," he told the BBC.

Her neighbours held a meeting; about 40 households decided to subscribe to a private firm.

One of their neighbours, who did not want to be named, said she had chosen to stay with her daughter that night - just in case.

"You've just got to keep going. I've got a business to run," he said, referring to his mobile coffee van which was hit during the first flood along with neighbours' vehicles.

He died while sheltering several of his neighbours in his one bedroom flat as the blaze took hold.