Flood-hit families in the Horsham area have been told to use supermarket carrier bags to keep the waters at bay.

Horsham District Council received about 100 calls for help today from people in the Horsham and Cowfold areas.

As a result it has found itself stretched to get sandbags to everyone because of the wide distances involved.

Council Press officer Martin Wright said: "The difficulty has been getting them to people over such a wide area.

"The calls have been coming from all over the place. We have been advising people to fill Tesco bags with earth.

"The problems in the district are caused partly by the fact the rivers Adur and Arun run through the area."

Officers say today's downpour hit homes that are not usually affected, unlike areas such as Pulborough which are regularly at risk.

One problem is the amount of water pouring off already soaked fields.

At Manor Road in Burgess Hill a 300-yard muddy stream ran alongside the road, eventually blocking part of the road and a footpath at World's End.

And a mini lake, about 20ft across, formed in St Andrew's Road, Burgess Hill.

Drivers had to negotiate floods on many country roads, some of them blocked by fallen leaves.