Random floods caused chaos across the county yesterday as firefighters were called to rescue people by raft and roads were rendered impassable.

In Pulborough, rescue workers raced against a rising tide to help an elderly couple trapped by flood water.

Fire crews and police battled in pouring rain at Swan Corner as the Environment Agency predicted the area could see worse flooding than two years ago.

Firefighters used an inflatable raft to bring 75-year-old Sheila and Denis Corden, 73, to safety. Water from the swollen River Arun was already waist deep at 9.30am yesterday, at low tide, and agency workers were expecting it to get worse.

Sheila Corden, who had to be rescued from the floods two years ago, said: "There are 4in of water at the moment but we're told it will probably get worse. We've moved things out of the way but we are too old for this."

Firefighters from Barcombe and Lewes rescued two children, two adults and two dogs after their car was stranded in 3ft of water at Barcombe Mill Road, Barcombe, last night at 6.10pm.

Gravel was put down on the A23 near Pyecombe after a car came off the road because of flooding. No one was hurt.

A stretch of Ockley Lane between Burgess Hill and Keymer was shut for a time to clear water.

The road at the bottom of Plumpton Green and roads at South Chailey, Staplefield and Cuckfield were also covered in water, causing delays to traffic.

Sussex was last night just millimetres away from a repeat of the flooding catastrophe two years ago.

While the rainfall during the past few days has not been as heavy as it might, weather forecasters say there have been few intervals between downpours.

The Environment Agency last night warned any more rain during the coming days in East and West Sussex would create severe problems.

A spokeswoman said grounds were already heavily-saturated, adding: "They simply cannot cope with any more rainfall."

Flood warnings remained on the Rivers Uck, the Ouse from Isfield to Barcombe, the Cuckmere at Hellingly and the Arun from Billingshurst to Pulborough. Weather experts warned of more patchy rain today.

Ewen McCallum, of the Meteorological Office, said: "On their own these spells of rain wouldn't be particularly eventful. But with little let up between each one, the risk of localised flooding will continue for some days yet."

Slightly more than 209mm of rain fell in England and Wales for 30 days starting from October 11, 2002. This was the third highest 30-day total since Met Office records began in January 1931.

The highest 30-day total was 240mm, starting on October 9, 2000, when Sussex experienced its worse floodings in living memory.