A FARMER said his home had been turned into a ‘ghost town’ after floods forced him to relocate more than 250 animals.

James Hall and his partner Becky Riley have lived at Northmoor Farm, close to Burrowbridge, for around a year but they say their 200 acres of fields have looked like a lake since the start of the year.

Amid rising water levels this week, the couple were forced to move their 123 cattle to a nearby farm on higher ground and other animals to safety way from the floods.

James said: “It has been devastating for everyone who has lost their home and their business because they are all pretty much destroyed.

“By the time the floods have finished there will be nothing left.”

The pair continue to live in their home with their chickens but they are concerned more heavy rain over the coming days will finally force them out.

They said: “We are digging in as long as we can.”

James said his parents Bob and Sue Hall, also in Fordgate, were not so lucky after their home and farm was completely submerged by floodwater.

He said: “There is three feet of water on the ground floor and there is anything and everything in the water from glass and light bulbs to waste from the septic tanks.

“It is not very nice ... there is a stench with the water.

“We just have to wait for the water to stop coming up now before we even plan for the future.

“When it goes down we will just have to see what is left.”

James and other members of the community are calling for Lord Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency, to resign.

He said: “We are signing a petition because we are disgusted that they say they had no money but were given £5million in 2000 – we want to know what has happened with that.

“We have had a lot of help coming from every direction recently and the community has really pulled together.”

James said he sympathised with fellow flood victims close to the River Thames but added: “We have had to scream for weeks to get the same help.”