I wonder if they came off a Ford...?

That was the question on everybody’s lips as a stack of number registrations were lined up against a wall in Rowlands Castle.

Drivers had lost them while going through a 1ft deep ford in Woodberry Lane.

Steve Protheroe, a co-ordinator for the floodwatch in Rowlands Castle, said: ‘I was aware that lots of drivers going too fast through the ford have lost their front number plates.

‘I wasn’t aware that some local person had now set up a “Hall of Fame” with the number plates displayed.’

Mr Protheroe said the area was now probably ‘over the worst’ and that the groundwater sitting on surfaces was starting to subside.

He said: ‘If we get a sunny day that will start to evaporate some of the water.

‘Going into the spring we should see an improvement.’