Winchester is on the brink of being declared a civil emergency area as flood waters continue to rise in the heart of the historic city.

Many shops and businesses have already been forced to close, while residents in high- risk areas are busy preparing themselves for the worst.

The River Itchen, which started overflowing earlier this week, raising the water table, is now running at a record level of around 20 cubic metres per second.

Residents and civic chiefs have resigned themselves to the fact that there is no way of stopping the floods, because ground surface water is rising so fast.

The worst hit areas include the Broadway, Bridge Street, North Walls, Park Avenue, Water Lane, Abbey Passage, Winchester College and the lower High Street.

Floods have also hit the recently-extended police station at North Walls, which may have to move some of its operational staff to the Romsey Road headquarters.

"We are not quite at the stage of declaring a civil emergency yet, but it is now under active consideration," said city council spokesman Bryan Walker.

"All we can do is to try to keep up with the pace of the problems arising, but we are also urging people to do all they can to help themselves.

"Over the past two weeks we have handed out 10,000 sandbags.

"We still have supplies, but if people can use bin liners filled with soil it would help us."

An emergency meeting was held at the Guildhall yesterday to give all the relevant agencies an update on the situation.

Talks are also being held with bus operators and county council highway leaders on the options for traffic diversions if, as expected, the lower part of the city becomes a lake by the end of the week.

Engineers are making arrangements to close or rope off parts of the flooded city, such as the footpath along the Weirs, near the Old Monk Public House, because they have become dangerous.

"We want to put out a very clear public safety message," added Mr Walker. "It might be fun for children to play in flooded areas, but it is also extremely dangerous."

Firefighters at the North Walls station have set up a special nightly-flood watch in a bid to deal with emergencies.

If a formal civil emergency is declared, a special flood control centre will be set up at The Castle and will involve the police, fire service, the city council and the county council.