Couple spend 200,000 lifting their cottage by SIX FEET to stop it being flooded again

They could simply repair the damage, but would then be forever at the mercy of the unpredictable British weather.

So they decided to dismantle the home stone by stone - and rebuild it 6ft above the ground.

Prepared: Cottage owners Alan Bark and Jill Prescott raised their house by 6ft to prevent flood damage

Now, £200,000 later, their ambitious project is almost complete.

They are delighted with the results and hope to spend many years in Delft Cottage without worrying about every downpour.

The couple, who paid £250,000 five years ago for their home in the village of Whiston, near Rotherham, are moving back next week.

They hope to find the place just as they left it - except with a small flight of steps leading up to the front door.

They contributed up to £140,000 to the project via a loan and their insurance company promised £85,000, which was the original estimate to repair the flood damage.

Delft Cottage is steeped in history. It was mentioned in Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe and was rumoured to be the home of a witch.

Flooded: Alan and Jill's house seen before the renovations (above) and after (below)

Unfortunately, the building sat in a valley, in a dip below a road. And last summer a nearby brook burst its banks after heavy rainfall, sending floodwater into the house.

Mr Bark, 49, an electrician, said: 'The floodwaters came from the brook across the road and straight into the cottage. In no time at all there was 6ft of water downstairs.

'We moved into a hotel and when the insurance assessors came round they estimated it would cost £85,000 to repair all the damage on the ground floor.

'Although older people in the village can't remember this ever happening before we decided we had to do something drastic to prevent our home being flooded in the future. And we decided the only way was to raise the level of the cottage.'

The property is in a conservation area but planners were happy with the scheme as long as it was put back together in its original form.

Ruined: The cottage during last year's floods

Last November, a team of four stonemasons began the task of removing every stone and numbering all the beams to ensure they were put back in the correct place.

After the foundations were raised rebuilding work began in January.

'We love the cottage and plan to spend the rest of our lives here, so we feel it has been worth every penny,' said Mr Bark.

'It was ambitious but when we get back in it will all have been worth it. We will feel as though we have beaten the floods.'

He added: 'As well as satisfying the historians and the planners, the fact that we have rebuilt the house exactly as it was will hopefully mean that it feels like home when we move back in.'

Miss Prescott, 48, an interior designer, said: 'It was heartbreaking to see the house damaged as it was. The water came above the front door and destroyed everything that was downstairs. It was awful and we knew we he had to do something dramatic if we didn't want it to happen again.'

Local parish council chairman George Skinner said: 'We fully support and endorse their effort. Delft Cottage is of importance to the village because it is one of the oldest.'