AFTER 14 days of closure, due to freak flooding in the Otter Valley, most of Otterton Mill has reopened after a massive clear-up by owners Simon and Caroline Spiller.

AFTER 14 days of closure, due to freak flooding in the Otter Valley, most of Otterton Mill has reopened after a massive clear-up by owners Simon and Caroline Spiller.

Its bakery and Devon Food Shop were first to open, with the Mill's bread available from a temporary shop on site as well as through Trumps of Sidmouth and shops in Exmouth and East Budleigh.

"We are delighted to be back in business so quickly, especially as we've been told this was the worst flooding for at least 40 years," said Simon.

"Through the fantastic efforts of our staff and other partners we have been able to beat all the estimates on the time-frames for reopening."

Caroline said: ""We were told by some experts that we would probably be closed until Christmas. But with some creativity and hard work we've been able come-up with a phased opening plan."

The Spillers are delighted with the way the team at the mill have responded to the challenge of achieving a rapid reopening after all of their historic mill buildings were flooded to depths of up to two feet.

"It has even felt like a team building activity for those of us involved in the clean-up," Caroline added.

"We would also like to thank clean-up specialists, Munters, and local land owner Clinton Devon Estates for their very active support.