EIGHTEEN people were evacuated from caravans at Notter Bridge last night after water breached the site’s flood defence.

During a night of heavy rainfall, emergency services were deployed to multiple incidents in Cornwall including to the Draynes Valley and Lostwithiel.

At Notter Bridge, firefighters from the Devon and Somerset service were called to help at around 10.20pm as crews from Cornwall were already deployed at other incidents. The water rescue unit from Bude was also requested, as well as teams from Cornwall and Dartmoor Search and Rescue, and Devon and Cornwall Police.

Around 50 caravans were checked and 18 people were evacuated and some were rehoused in emergency accommodation, said Cornwall Fire and Rescue. Emergency Services stayed on site through to the early hours of the morning to check on the welfare of people still in their caravans.

The call to Notter Bridge was the third call out of the night for the East Cornwall Search and Rescue Team.

Posting on Facebook, a spokesperson for the team said: “Initially a team was dispatched to Draynes Valley between Bolventor and Golitha Falls following reports of a driver trapped by floodwater.

“They then joined others in Lostwithiel to help evacuate residents before relocating to Notter Bridge for their third tasking of the night.

“There is still a lot of floodwater around this morning so please take extra care especially if you are on the roads.”