'Thousands gone' Hero pub owner counts cost after flood water wrecks restaurant

As Cimi Kazazi stood in the middle of his flood-damaged bar and restaurant in the Leicestershire village of Great Glen, he struggled to find the words to describe the devastation.

- Jessica Murray

"I can't even talk about it. I can't even bear to look at it," said Kazazi, 50. "I don't want to say a number [for the cost of the damage], I can't, I'm scared to say it. I just hope the insurance will cover it."

Thick mud has coated every surface of the Italian Greyhound, with furniture and glass bottles scattered across the room as if blown there by an explosion.

All the electrical appliances, including fridges, freezers and cellar pumping equipment, had been destroyed.

"There were bottles of whisky found floating in the car park. Thousands of pounds has gone," said Kazazi, who is originally from Albania and has lived in the UK for more than 20 years, mainly working in the hospitality business.

It has been a tumultuous 48 hours for Kazazi, who made national headlines after dramatic footage emerged showing him rescuing a woman from a submerged car.

He had been sitting in his office upstairs in the flooded pub when he heard his neighbours shouting: "Cimi, Cimi, we need your help."