A Ditchling shopowner hopes a mystery flood will not turn his business into a washout.

Each morning Robin Fisher, who runs Chestertons delicatessen in the village, spends an hour bailing out the water, which seeps into his cellar overnight.

The problem started in February and no one seems to know where the water, which can be 5in deep, is coming from.

Mr Fisher said: "My first job of the morning is to get rid of the water in the cellar. I use a submersive pond pump, which takes away most of it.

"We use a special vacuum cleaner to suck up the remainder, about half an inch of water, and empty it into buckets and carry it to the toilet.

"It takes at least an hour to get it all cleaned up, and I have to do the same at lunchtime and before leaving in the evening. It's ridiculous and is causing no end of headaches for the business.

"We deliberately keep stock on shelves about 18 inches above the ground in the cellar. But I'm worried about the building. The wet has damaged the doors and one of the walls has fungus sprouting on it."

Water has been found in the cellar every day since February.

Mr Fisher said Chestertons had been plagued with disasters since it opened in 2000.

During its first year in business it suffered a power cut lasting three days. Mr Fisher lost £10,000 of stock in fridges and freezers, including imported cooked meats, cheese and olives.

In December 2000 the shop was hit by flooding from the nearby pond.

The cloudy water seeped into the cellar for 66 days, causing an estimated £3,000 of damage.

Mr Fisher injured his back carrying heavy buckets of water and had to see a chiropractor.

He has received no compensation and no one has owned up to causing the problems.

The latest round of flooding in the cellar, which is 9ft below ground, is not believed to be from the pond.

He said: "The water is clear this time, whereas before it was a rusty colour. It's a total mystery, we've had some water diviners here who found some water underground but didn't know why the cellar was flooding.

"What I object to is that none of the service companies seem to be accountable anymore. I haven't had a penny in compensation.

"It's hard enough trying to run a business but it doesn't help when there are also these extra difficulties."

A spokesman for South East Water said the flooding was under investigation and the company had been checking for leaks in the area.

He said: "No evidence of a leak could be found. A water sample was taken on April 2 to determine what type of water it was and where it could be coming from and whether it was coming from something such as an underground spring or a leak in a supply pipe."

He said the company hoped to get the test results by the middle of next week.

"The supplier tested the flooding water earlier in the year. Results showed the water was not derived from mains water but did not give any leads as to where it may be coming from."