AWOMAN is facing the “nightmare” of scrapping her car for the second time in as many years after it was flooded outside her home.

Denise Doveaston, 31, received just £140 for her BMW TDI Compact following the August floods two years ago when dealers refused to buy it because of the terrible odour.

Now, she is facing the same dilemma.

Her latest car, a Renault Clio which she bought for £1,000, was parked on Hamlet Road, Southend, outside her house during the torrential rain and flash floods of Friday evening’s storm. It has now suffered similar damage.

Although a family friend is attempting to fix it for her, she said she is preparing for the prospect of having to sell her car for scrap once again.

She said: “My car is absolutely putrid, the centre console is completely full of water, the brakes have completely seized and the handbrake doesn’t work at all.

“It’s a lovely little car and I’m absolutely gutted because I would have kept it until it died – I’ve never had a day’s problem with it.

“I think it’s a disgrace because it’s simply down to the drains – they stink of putrid onions all the time so they’re obviously always blocked, but when I complained last time, I assumed it would have been dealt with.

“But, yet again, I’ve got a ruined car.”

Anglian Water has come under fire after homes and businesses were flooded.

Senior Southend councillor Martin Terry claimed the company had not sufficiently invested in the town’s antiquated drainage infrastructure to allow it to cope with large volumes of water.

A spokesman for the company said it had invested in upgrading pumps in Eastern Esplanade and was in the process of refurbishing another in Chalkwell.

However, on Friday, an 89-yearold’s home in The Leas, Westcliff, was filled with raw sewage and the owners of both the Happidrome and Ye Olde Chippy on the seafront said they were considering closing up for good as a result of repeated floodings.