A teenager had a narrow escape yesterday after his car rolled into a flooded Norfolk ford trapping him inside.Mark Cranswick was one of a number of people caught in floods after almost a month's rain fell in less than a day.

A teenager had a narrow escape on Sunday after his car rolled into a flooded Norfolk ford trapping him inside.

Mark Cranswick was one of a number of people caught in floods after almost a month's rain fell in less than a day.

The 18-year-old was on the way to visit his girlfriend in Aslacton when he ran into trouble in Forncett St Peter.

“As I went down the hill towards the ford I tested my brakes because of all the water and they didn't work as well as I thought and my front wheels went into the ford. I tried to reverse out but the current just dragged the car in,” said Mr Cranswick, from Long Stratton.

“The water came up to the windscreen. I was shaking and tried to push open the door but the pressure against it made it very difficult. I eventually managed to get out and grab a pole but the car swung around and almost hit me.”

Mr Cranswick was able to use his mobile phone to call his girlfriend Cara Bolger who, with her parents, came to his aid.

“It was just horrendous. I'm 5ft 8ins and when I got out of the car the water was above my waist and very strong. It all happened very fast,” said the council worker.

Nationally, the Environment Agency had 19 flood warnings in place on rivers across the country but weather forecasters were predicting a reprieve today from the heavy rain, which began on Saturday night and continued well into yesterday but were warning there could be more on the way tomorrow until a more settled period takes over midweek.

Emma Coombs, a Weatherquest forecaster based at the University of East Anglia, said: “In Morley, with is south west of Wymondham, the station recorded 42mm of rain from midnight on Saturday to about 4pm yesterday. To put that in context, historical figures show the most rainfall ever recorded on a day in October in Morley is 47.3mm in 1987.

“We fully expect more of the stations across the area to see towards 50-60mm of rain. Most places saw almost a month's rain fall in one day.”

Firefighters were kept busy across Norfolk and Suffolk pumping out flooded roads and properties and rescuing people who became stranded in high water.

Sitting water on the B1145 between Reepham and Bawdeswell blocked the road to all but 4x4 vehicles for several hours while the B1108 at Kimberley, near Wymondham, was also blocked for a time.