A Cockermouth woman who lost her home and most of her possessions in the floods - which also hit her business - is delighted to be back in her shop today.

Tessa Milner owns Andessa Jewellery, on Main Street. When the floods hit in December she was in the nightmare situation of trying to rescue stock in her shop while knowing her home was also being hit.

It's been a tough five months and while Tessa and her family are not expecting to get back in their Derwentside Gardens bungalow for another three months, she is pleased to back in the shop.

"I'm looking forward to a bit of fizz and glamour when I reopen. We lost pretty much all our clothes and possessions, everything. I later had to throw out 64 pairs of ruined high heels," said Tessa.

"I have spent the last four or five months wandering around in trainers and hoodies, no make-up, scrubbing and cleaning. At last I can feel glamorous again!

"It's been a real struggle personally, having no home or business. I'm looking forward to a bit of normality - and welcoming my customers back."

The shop has been replastered and the floor tiled. 

"We have had to rebuild everything. We have a new window display and all the cabinets are new. When the floods hit I had only just celebrated two years in the shop and was really pleased with how it was working. I just wanted to recreate what I had," said Tessa.

The home she shares with her son, Harrison, and fiance Andrew Cockburn was devastated. They had bought it two years earlier and only just finished doing it up.

"Because it's a bungalow everything was affected, it was pretty devastating. We saved two motorbikes, the cat and my son's guitar and some memorabilia," said Tessa.

"It's taken ages to dry the place out, I only got the dry certificate about a month ago.

"It's been manic. It's insured so everything will be replaced but that does not account for the hours and hours of your life you have to spend going round buying everything. The lists are endless.

"I used to love shopping but I'm absolutely sick of it now."