Popular campsite in 'heart of Sherwood Forest' hit by 'devastating' flooding

Sherwood Forest Holiday Park, located on Gorsethorpe Lanen, has been the subject of various flood warnings in recent months.

The 52-ace site, first opened in 1972, runs along the Maun Valley in the heart of Sherwood Forest.

Storm Babet, that touched down on Friday, October 20, caused “severe flooding” on the site from rising River Maun levels.

Andrew Robinson, site manager, said: “It is such a blow to the business and the increase of floods over the years in a huge concern.

“I really feel for the holidaymakers here – this is a second home to many people.

“We, owners, directors and sister businesses have been extremely saddened by the devastation caused by Storm Babet to our beautiful park.

“The team at Sherwood are still working tirelessly to put the park back together so we can reopen as quickly and safely as possible.”

Andrew said staff cleared 250,000 litres of flood water from just “one part” of the site.

He said the last time the site faced flooding on this level was during the floods of June, 1993 – where river levels raised to 1.6 metres.

He added: “River levels went up to 1.52 metres following Storm Babet but they remained at that for four or five hours.

“This would not allow the water to go down on site and we were left with a huge problem.

“Water flooded into the site, going into people’s caravans – it was surreal. And such a mammoth task to clear.

“It just raised within minutes.”

The site closed on Friday, October 20, as the business made a decision to “cancel weekend bookings” due to safety concerns.

Despite the site having faced low levels of flooding over the summer – recent floods were “nothing” compared to the scale of October river levels.

Andrew explained: “It has been heart-breaking for us to see.

“Especially as people’s caravans and vehicles have been affected by the flood.

“But thankfully, we have received lots of support from the community.”

He said the biggest concern is needing “greater support” with minor flooding, to avoid large-scale “devastation” as seen following Storm Babet.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “In the East Midlands, our incident room has been working 24/7 since before last weekend to warn and inform members of the public with flood alerts and warnings.

“We have many of our staff out visiting those communities that have flooded, but it will take time to visit all places as we are still in full incident mode and many places are still feeling the effects of flooding.

“This is devastating and our thoughts go out to all those that have suffered flooding including those at Sherwood Forest Holiday Park.

“We are continuing to monitor the situation and would remind the public to check the latest flood alerts and warnings to understand the current flood risk in their area and if applicable, sign up to receive warnings.”