“It was a kick to the gut”: Ilminster shop loses 200 wedding dresses in flood
The clear-up is still underway at Prima Moda Bridal
Last updated 7th Feb 2025
A wedding dress shop in Ilminster has lost more than 200 gowns in a flood.
The clear-up is still underway at Prima Moda Bridal in Ilminster, a week after a major incident was declared on the 23rd of January, in Somerset.
Extreme rainfall battered the south of the county, with water reaching over four foot in Chard and Ilminster.
“It was horrendous,” said Jean Pas, the owner of Prima Moda Bridal.
“The water went through the front and the back of the shop, and I couldn’t actually get in the door or another two foot would have come through.”
Almost all of Jean’s stock was damaged by muddy water and the interior, which was only decorated a month previously, will have to be refurbished.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do, I’ve had to cancel people who wanted to try dresses on and lost weeks of income.
“This was the best month we’d had for a long time and now we’re gutted.
“I was on a high one minute and now I feel someone has kicked me in the gut.
“Twenty years of hard work, at this point, for nothing.”
Jean hopes they will be able to reopen soon.