Multimillion pound flood defence scheme completed in Basingstoke years after devastating floods
Video report by ITV News Meridian's Heather Edwards
People living in Basingstoke say they finally feel safe again in their homes after Hampshire County Council completed major work to prevent flooding.
More than 80 families were forced to leave their properties in Buckskin in 2014 after ground water and sewage flooded the area.
Now a £6m flood defence scheme has been completed and local people say they are confident their homes are safe.
In 2014, the flooding contaminated people's belongings with sewage. Ellen Marshall was one of those affected.
She says: "We had skips to put all our furniture in because it was all contaminated with sewage and not a very nice smell. We all had to be out of our bungalows for a year. I came back on my birthday which was a bit weird."
Major work has been completed laying new drains and improving local ditches and culverts.
Cllr Rob Humby says: "There was an awful lot of design work. Yes it has taken a while, but we're very hopeful now that this scheme will help prevent this situation again. You can never prevent it necessarily altogether, but it will certainly go a long way to mitigating that effect that we saw back in 2014."
Monitoring stations are constantly keeping an eye on the water level in the new drains.
At any time the water level gets too high or there is a forecast of heavy rain, the specially designed flood doors will be put in all local properties to make sure they never flood again.
Ellen is happy to be home, and says she feels confident in the new flood protections in place.
She says: "I know it sounds odd, but I would like to end my days here without having to go through another flood. Having seen the work that's been done, I don't think we are likely to be flooded."