MOTORISTS who ignore a "road closed" sign and then find themselves stuck in floodwater have come under fire from a resident who has to help them out.

Alex Wardle lives in Derritt Lane on the edge of the New Forest between Bransgore and Sopley and has had dozens of people knocking on her door after they have broken down in up to four feet of water.

"People are idiots. I would do anything for anyone at any time, but have they come for reading lessons?

"It has said 'road closed' for weeks. But there have been dozens of people who have broken down, then waded through the water expecting tea and sympathy. A car is your most expensive item and they are just asking to ruin it," she said.

In addition to Derritt Lane, there was flooding in some properties in Sopley and Ripley on the Hampshire-Dorset border when torrential rain returned on New Year's Day.

Neighbours and council workmen joined forces to dam with sandbags the torrent which was gushing through the centre of the village yesterday.

The speed and scale of the flooding has taken villagers by surprise and left homeowners wondering where the water came from.

"It came from nowhere and the speed with which it built up was quite frightening," said Derritt Lane resident Maggie Laidlaw. There must be something wrong for the amount of rain we had to cause this amount of flooding.'' First thing in the morning there was just a puddle in the yard, within a few hours there was three feet of water."

Sopley Parish Council chairman Tim Gibson, whose own home at Ripley was flooded, said the latest flooding was the worst in memory.

"Some of the villagers can go back over 40 years and they say it has never been like this before," he said.

A spokesman for Hampshire County Council's area surveyors office said the flooding was due to high ground water levels and there was little that could be done to clear blocked roads.

"For every gallon of water we pump away another gallon will come back up through the ground," he said.