Torrential rain across the Three Towns has left people homeless and facing thousands of pounds in repairs.

Residents of Stanley Road in Saltcoats were woken early last Wednesday morning to find their floors and cars under water.

Others living on Raise Street were evacuated by firefighters on Friday following a second downpour.

Tom Bryson, who owns a house on Stanley Road, said: “The roads were like small rivers with the amount of water in them.

“The street was under two to three feet of water, it was right up to the car bonnets in some places.”

Joseph West, who lives on Raise Street, said: “I looked on from my bed as water gushed through my home and reached a foot deep inside and two to three foot outside where it was like a river.”

This caused sewage drains to back up, flooding Joseph and his neighbours flats with putrid waste.

Residents said this was not the first time, with bad weather causing flooding in 2014.

Tom, who is a lobster fisherman, said: “Last time, it cost £24,000 to repair the damage and the insurance company has told us it’s going to be much worse.

“It might be uninsurable because it’s be flooded twice.

“It will cost a fortune.”

A neighbour’s daughter had to have her brand new Mini towed, with a number of vehicles so badly damaged as to be written off.

Tom, who also works as an aeronautical engineer at Spirit Aerosystems, said the drainage for the street takes the rainwater to a nearby burn, but when the rain is heavy the water rises above the level of the outlets.

He said: “They can’t say the drains are fit for purpose, they’ve flooded the whole street twice.”

The situation has been made worse by the lack of temporary accommodation with hotels and B and Bs closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council said: “We are currently investigating the cause of the issue and will be in touch with the residents once this work concludes.”

A spokesperson for Scottish Water said that the issues were not a matter for them as the flooding was caused by heavy rainfall.

They said: “We have carried out checks and our infrastructure in the area is working as it should.”