BUSINESSES were today counting the cost of torrential downpours which battered Weymouth and forced them to close their doors to customers.

A clean-up operation has been under way after more than 40mm within just six hours on Thursday, turning roads into rivers and flooding homes and businesses.

The Crow's Nest restaurant in Hope Square was preparing for a full house that evening when water flooded the restaurant and kitchen forcing them to cancel all of their reservations, costing thousands of pounds in lost trade.

Co-owner Emma Farnworth, said: "The whole restaurant and the kitchen were underwater so we had to close the restaurant even though we were fully booked. We have probably lost up to £3,000 by closing for the night.

"Luckily the restaurant is back up and running but we lost a bit of stock that was damaged by the water. Our beer cooler has also been damaged beyond repair so we are hoping to get a new one as quickly as we can so we can cater for the bank holiday weekend.

"We did have a bit of a problem as we were storing boxes of wine round the back of the building and with the flooding the boxes obviously got soaking wet.

"Wine bottles were floating down the alleyway so we had to catch them before they floated away!"

New Body gym, on the Granby Estate, was also forced to close after two inches of water flooded both the gym and reception, with roof tiles knocked off by the force of the rain.

Manager Amesha Ryan, said: "It was pretty much like a waterfall had just come through the building which really wasn't ideal at 3:30pm as we had to close. Some members stayed to help us shovel the water out which was really nice of them.

"A few of the roof tiles came off because of the rain hammering down but thankfully they didn't fall on anybody so no one was hurt.

"The gym is concrete and rubber so it is completely fine now and the carpet by the reception is drying out. We only missed out on four hours of having our members in so we are lucky."