Sue Eccles could not believe what she was witnessing last December as she stood in the lounge of Cockermouth’s Trout Hotel in her wellies.

Just six years earlier she faced the exact same scene after flood waters devastated the ground floor of the hotel.

Plans are now in place to install flood defences – costing up to £350,000 – throughout the Crown Street building and Mrs Eccles, who is the hotel’s general manager, hopes these will be in place early in the new year.

She said: “A lot are on order. Most of them aren’t off the shelf so have to be manufactured and we’re hopefully looking to in-stall them in mid-January.”

The hotel has applied to Allerdale council for permission for the flood defences and is hopeful they will be approved.

The plan is to provide temporary protection to existing door and window openings. These would be clipped into a permanent frame when the building is at risk.

Flood-proof windows would be installed in the bedrooms closest to the river. Larger openings would be protected by slot-in flood barriers. There would also be one-way drain valves, underfloor vents and a sump pump to remove water.

The hotel was forced to close for eight months following last year’s flood as extensive repairs took place.

Recalling the devastation, Mrs Eccles said: “Last year’s flood wasn’t as bad as 2009 with the amount of water which came into the hotel – three-and-a-half feet – but it did the same amount of damage throughout the whole of the ground floor.

“It was like history repeating itself. When I stood in the lounge in my wellies on Saturday evening it was like deja vu.

“It was a little bit easier this time, due to the fact I had every file and order we had put in back in 2009.”

An exact copy of the order went in for items such as the bedroom furniture and the crockery as the same amount had been damaged during the previous floods.

Until the flood defences are put in place, Mrs Eccles knows that the hotel is vulnerable.

They have around 200 sandbags which will be put down if the threat of flooding appears.

Mrs Eccles said: “It’s always in the back of your mind that something could happen and we won’t have any flood defences in place.

“But I think we have got to think of the positives. We are back open and the building looks wonderful.

“I’m delighted with the refurbishment and business has come back. You can’t dwell on what happened.”

Despite extensive negotiations, the hotel’s finance director has been unable to renew its flood insurance.

Mrs Eccles hopes that this could change next year once the defences are in place.