Mechanics at garages in Newcastle have been working tirelessly to repair hundreds of cars that have been damaged by recent bad weather.
Rising flood water has caused electrical faults and engine failure meaning that many cars need significant repairs and others may have to be written off.
West Chirton Accident Repair Centre’s mechanic Ian Martin said that his garage was incredibly busy during the bad weather as they recovered abandoned cars in the North East region.
He said: “We were out recovering cars from roads and some from people’s driveways too.
“Most people said the water was up to their knees and many of them won’t be repairable because of engine failure.
“More came in over the weekend. We’re just waiting for the insurance companies before we can get started.”
There are over 60 customers waiting for repairs at Trewick’s Accident Repair Centre in Benton and more are expected.
Robert Kindley, said: “We have got 100 cars in since Friday and there’s been about 60 claims. We seem to be doing all right at the moment but we can’t keep this up for much longer.
“Some of them have been covered in water. They are contaminated so we can’t fix them.”
Some members of the garage’s staff have had to forgo holidays so that they can come and help with the vehicle repairs.
He added: “People that had days off are all in just working. It’s very stressful. It’s manic.”
Jason Graham of North Jesmond Garage said that his team is repairing six cars that were damaged by drivers trying to get through deep puddles.
“One car was completely covered in water.
“Every car we have looked at has a water seized engine.
“A BMW we’ve had in will need a new engine – that’s £9,000 and has gone to a BMW specialist for repairs. It was a bit hectic for a couple of days after the floods.”