As well as having to contend with 4ft of water in his premises on Askern Road, Toll Bar. which meant being closed for months, there was also the fear for John Jackson that the business would be on the Post Office closure hit-list and might never re-open.

But a year on from the devastation the man who became a high-profile figure and an unofficial spokesman for the village during those terrible times is busy behind the counter again with no plans for retirement, despite being nearly 68. He will be remembered for the day he was shown on TV talking to Royalty while helping to push a boat with Prince Charles in it along what should have been the A19.

John recalls: "Prince Charles was a very sincere chap and he was very well briefed on what had gone on here. He had overflown the village in his helicopter while on his way to Sheffield and made a point of asking to come here.

"It wasn't just a token gesture and I think it helped raise morale among the villagers that he had taken the trouble to see for himself."

John and his wife Jenny spent months living in the upstairs of their shop and adjoining house after both were flooded.

"It was 11 days before all the water was gone and it was not until February 18 that we opened for business again. It was hard for people outside Toll Bar to understand just how much water there was here."

Because John enjoys an army pension and the Post Office made special financial arrangements the couple were able to survive until the shop was ship-shape again.

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