SOUTHEND seafront busineses were working through the night to make sure they were up and trading today.

Southend seafront traders were some of the worst hit by Saturday’s flooding, with businesses reporting £100,000s worth of damage.

In stunning scenes, water gushed in waterfalls down the front of the cliffs while rainwater and sewage flowed into streets, homes and businesses on Saturday.

Martin Richardson, owner of the amusement arcade Happidrome on Southend’s seafront, reckons the floods have caused his business more than £100,000 of damage.

He and his staff worked throughout Saturday night to get the arcade cleaned up for today.

He said: “It was total devastation, we were 18 inches deep in sewage. The flooding started at about 3pm on Saturday, we could see the main drian had burst became it down the street like a tidal wave

“My staff, family and friends worked through the night to clean the place up and we managed to open again yesterday."