Garage owner Matthew Jones claims the authorities could have stopped the floods which engulfed Upper Lydbrook at the weekend and caused around £300,000 worth of damage to his business.

He says County Highways was told in the early hours of the morning that a blocked culvert was causing flooding.

But he claims nobody came out until after the water had engulfed his garage, the Jovial Colliers pub and 12 homes.

"All this was avoidable," said Mr Jones, 33.

"If Highways had come out, it could have been avoided. They were called out in the early hours when you could still see the white lines in the middle of the road, but nobody turned up.

"They should have been out here clearing the drains but nobody made any effort."

Mr Jones was home in the flat above the garage with partner Kelly Bowkett and sons aged four and five when they had a call about water on the road.

Firefighters dealt with the petrol on site and the couple say they were told Highways would sort out a culvert.

When nobody arrived Kelly says she called an emergency number five times, but only got through twice.

By 7am the water had reached the wing mirrors of 20 cars in the garage and over the next few hours it rose to about 4ft.

The flood is believed to have caused at least £300,000 worth of damage to the garage alone.

"The water just kept going up and up," said Kelly.

"We were safe upstairs but my boyfriend has lost his whole life in those floods.

"It's his livelihood, my livelihood, everything he has built up over the years.

"It's all he's ever done since leaving school. We will have to start all over again."

Matt, who lost hundreds of pounds in a burglary days earlier, is struggling to keep going with small jobs.

Julie Pugh and Lee Brown were among 10 people rescued by raft.

"We are just trying to make it habitable because whatever happens, I don't want to leave it empty," said Lee.

The Jovial Colliers pub also faced a major clean-up operation.

Kelly says support has been overwhelming and as people rallied round community leaders – including Coun Bruce Hogan and the Rev Nick Bromfield – met to set up a fund.

Coun Hogan said: "My phone has been red hot with people from all over the Forest of Dean asking what they can do to help.

"We need to let people know they have not been forgotten."

The first benefit gig will be at Lydbrook Memorial Hall on Saturday, December 8.

Officer in charge Andy Gillingham said firefighters had been able to clear the waist high water by late Monday morning because the specialist machine from Hampshire had pumped it a mile down the road to the River Wye.

"It has speeded up the process so people can get back into their homes and start the long, painful process of clearing up," he said.

Gloucestershire County Council highways manager Brian Watkins said they were called by police at 3.50am.

"We were dealing with a number of major incidents on the highway network at that time, and were not aware that there was a high risk of properties being flooded," he said.

"We have no evidence to suggest there was a significant obstruction to the culvert in question or if it was a major cause of the flooding but, by the time the extent of the incident was reported to us, the volume of water at the site was overwhelming."

Emergency services were also called out to Morse Lane Drybrook and Valley Road Cinderford.