A COUPLE will have to find £30,000 if they are to resurrect their flood-damaged business after failing to get insurance for their shop.

Beki Falkingham and Greg Lund, owners of Platinum E-Liquid in Fishergate, lost stock, furniture and the essential items needed to make e-cigarette fluid when water rose above knee height in December.

Everything they owned inside the premises was wiped out and they must find thousands of pounds if they are to move back in.

Ms Falkingham, 46, said: "The building itself is ruined but the landlord's insurance will cover those repairs and we will try and hold off as long as we can before coming back.

"We think we have lost stock worth between £25,000 and £30,000. All of the stock and shop fittings have gone so we have to find all the money again.

"There's £500 of labels we need to replace and you never think of things like that.

"The water covered all the electricity sockets because they were low down and everything that was electrical was affected.

"I don't think we will be able to set up to the same standard we had it before, but we want to come back because we have quite a few customers in York.

"We worked for pretty much nothing to get it up and running and that's the most heartbreaking thing about it."

The couple expanded into the York shop in August after first setting up in Beverley, East Yorkshire.

They were unable to find insurance which covered flooding, but they believed the Foss Barrier would protect their business if water levels increased.

"I've grown up in York and knew it hadn't flooded since the 1980s, so didn't think it would happen again," added Ms Falkingham.

"The last time it flooded I was at high school and didn't consider flooding as a reason to not open a business.

"We feel bad about letting our customers down but we have put messages on Facebook to let them know they can still buy online."