FLASH floods failed to keep York businesses closed for long, as staff rallied round to clear up the debris in time for weekend trade.

A forecaster at PA Weather Centre said nearly a week's worth of rain had battered down on York in just half-an-hour in Friday's torrential downpour.

Elliott's Frames, in King's Square, had to close for most of the afternoon, but was back in business on Saturday morning.

Barnitts hardware store, in Colliergate, which was also hit by the storm, with a suspended ceiling in the bathroom equipment area collapsing, also threw open its doors to welcome back customers first thing on Saturday.

John Cooke, general manager, praised his colleagues.

He said: "Our staff rallied round magnificently. We have worked hard to get ourselves back open and managed to open on Saturday morning.

"We got an electrician in first thing to get the lights back on in the bathroom area. We can't repair all the damage to the ceilings, but we are certainly back in business and staff have done a wonderful job cleaning the water out.

"Retailers have to be very flexible. We have a duty to our customers.

"We had water everywhere. We are fortunate in that we are a handy shop so we have a lot of the things we need on site - mops, vacuum cleaners, and we borrowed a water-sucking machine from across the road."

Updated: 10:56 Monday, May 15, 2006