TENDRING Council says a team of staff has been helping residents who have been hit by flooding caused by torrential rain overnight.

The owners of some properties in Clacton, Holland-on-Sea, Ardleigh and Little Oakley have called for advice and assistance over the past 24 hours.

Council spokesman Nigel Brown said its engineers have been working with emergency planning and private sector housing teams to investigate reports of flooding and assisting "wherever possible”.

Tendring escaped the worst of the deluge, which affected more western areas of Essex, but more rainfall is expected up to midnight.

The slip road at the Ardleigh Interchange was closed for part of the day and drivers on a number of other roads were having difficulties, partly where water was running off saturated fields.

More than 30mm of rain fell in many areas overnight which has resulted in a Met Office yellow warning remaining in force until 2am tomorrow.

Power supplies could also be affected.

None of Tendring’s 99 polling stations for the EU referendum were closed due to the water. The council says they have been busy throughout much of the day with a high turnout predicted.

Anyone needing advice on flooding issues should contact the Environment Agency’s floodline on 0345 988 1188 or visit bluepages.org.uk.

People whose homes are flooded are advised to take photos and record what happened for insurance purposes and do not destroy any property until they have cleared it with their insurance company.

Vegetables in gardens which have been flooded should be destroyed due to the risk of contamination.