A couple had to abandon their car and wade through 3ft-deep water as the threat of flooding returned to East Sussex.

Water came cascading into John Coomber's car as his wife drove them home from a carol service last night.

They were travelling from Ditchling to Uckfield at about 5.50pm when they drove into a flood-hit road in Sharpsbridge, near Uckfield.

Mr Coomber, 47, got out to try to push the Astra back out of the water but they were forced to abandon it.

The couple, from Uckfield, waded through waist-high water to a nearby home, where they alerted the RAC.

However, the recovery service said it was too dangerous to retrieve the Astra at that time of the evening.

The couple were given a lift home by the people they called on while their car, which was bought nine months ago, remained this morning where it was left.

Mr Coomber said today: "We now face the prospect of having no car over Christmas.

"But the thing we were most concerned about was the lack of any flood signs. Had there been some signs then we would not have gone near that place.

"My wife and I have been driving for about 30 years and I have never seen anything like that in this country.

"It was quite a fright and there was not even much rainfall."

Uckfield was one of the worst-hit areas during the infamous autumn 2000 floods, which caused widespread devastation.

Crews at Uckfield fire station said parts of the town came "extremely close" to flooding yesterday. However, they had no flood-related call-outs.

Officials at the Environment Agency said parts of Uckfield, Lewes, Robertsbridge and the Langney Levels area of Eastbourne were being monitored closely.

Spokesman Ray Kemp said: "The Uck and Ouse were in a pretty dangerous state at one stage yesterday. We had up to 30mm, over an inch, of rain in a 24-hour period.

"We are now very concerned about Boxing Day when we expect heavy rainfall as the rivers cannot cope with any substantial quantities of rain."

Elsewhere in East Sussex, six properties were flooded in Rye from water from the River Tillingham after a sluicegate blocked.