“WE wouldn’t have our business without him.”

Those were the words used to describe Hampshire handyman Dan Theobald after he saved a restaurant from flooding on three separate occasions this year.

And Timothy Buckle and Alan Douglas, who run the Elm Tree Inn in Ringwood, have nominated Dan as a Flood Hero for stopping their restaurant from flooding three times.

The pair run The Elm Tree Inn in Hightown, Ringwood, and said they would have lost the business were it not for Dan’s intervention.

Tim said: “Our problem was flooding underground and Dan saved us from completely flooding twice. He was here for hours and hours sandbagging everywhere and drilling holes in the back yard so he could put in pumps to get the water away.

“He has been unbelievable. Without him we would have lost the business without a doubt. There would have been 30 people out of work and the community would have lost its pub. We all call him ‘Sir Dan’ now.”

Dan, 29, of Ringwood, said: “Water was coming up through the floor and it was one thing after another. We were trying to fight one flood when the next would be coming through over the other side of the pub. It was constantly fighting a losing battle.

“At one point we had four submergible pumps running all the time.

“The thought was in my mind that we might lose the battle but I wanted to do as much as I could to keep the place up and running.”

During one weekend Dan spent 30 hours on site trying to protect the business but he said it was a team effort overall.

He added: “The staff, landlords and friends all worked together to get everything running smoothly again.”

Dan has been a regular at the pub for more than five years since Alan and Tim took over and has worked for them on and off doing repairs and odd jobs.

Who is your Flood Hero?

Whether it’s your next-door neighbour, a soldier, sailor, firefighter or Environment Agency worker, we want to know who has gone above and beyond to help others, so we have launched the Flood Heroes 2014 campaign.

They may have helped rescue someone from a trapped vehicle, sandbagged a driveway or provided shelter from the storms.

If you think someone deserves recognition as a Flood Hero let us know by calling 023 8042 4520 or email joseph.curtis@dailyecho.co.uk.