With fresh fears of floods looming, a family bakery faces a possible 20% hike in insurance premiums, after being submerged in July.

As the Environment Agency issued further severe flood warnings last week, Ray Hill, who owns the Sunshine Bakery in Stroud, Gloucestershire, told British Baker he had been forced to relocate for four weeks to another baker’s premises as a result of July’s floods. He lost his main oven and mixer, and the floor in his premises was ruined.Although Sunshine Bakery managed to retain 75% of its trade while at the nearby Walkers bakery, it is now running at around 15% lower than before the deluge last year.

Hill said he had secured a grant worth £2,500 from Nor-thern Ark - an organisation that helps victims of flood damage - for repairs, but he was braced for a rise of up to 20% in insurance costs when his policy comes up for renewal.