A VILLAGE came to a standstill this morning (Thursday, January 4) as high tide closed the main Wye Valley road for more than an hour.

The combination of the tide and a river swollen from heavy rainfall lifted the water over the A466 road in Tintern during the rush hour.

Monmouthshire County Council highways staff closed half a mile of the route to traffic for 75 minutes between the Wye Valley Hotel and the George Hotel, to prevent vehicles driving through and potentially flooding homes.

Water came over the banks of the Wye at 8.35am and the road was a foot deep in places before subsiding around 9.50am.