THE floodwaters started to rise in a young couple’s Westlea home shortly after 9am.

By 9.15am the living room floor was soaked; by 9.30am it was awash and by 10am the water was lapping nearly at knee height around furniture.

The householders fought panic as they tried to remember what to do when such a disaster struck.

What should they bring when the authorities ferried them to safety in some school or community centre?

What should they leave? What could they do for their elderly and vulnerable neighbours?

Then, once they’d worked out a strategy, somebody else in the room said “Cut” and they went for a rest.

The couple were actors Tom Coward and Nicky Burke, the person who said “Cut” was freelance Swindon film director Gurchetan Singh, and the house was the full scale mock up at the local fire station.

It’s usually used to help keep firefighters up to speed with the latest techniques for tackling flames, but the visiting team from Create Studios were interested in another element – water.

Hundreds of litres were pumped in to simulate the sort of flood that has brought misery to many people across the country in recent years.

Create was called in by the council’s civil protection unit to produce a public information film.

It will be put on a DVD and handed out to residents living in potential flood sites.

It’s part of two-year flood protection pilot project funded by Defra.

Civil protection unit head Sam Weller said: “It’s about having your own emergency plan for your house.

“It’s a multi-agency project including Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, the Environment Agency and schools.”

Create’s production and skills development manager Marilyn Fitzgerald said turning the fire station’s smoke-blackened practice building into a facsimile of a suburban house was challenging.

“We cleaned it, painted it and furnished it as much as we could to make it look like the sort of house a young couple would live in,” she said.

The main message of the film is the importance of being prepared for flooding, rather than leaving everything until the worst happens and the risk of panic is greatest.

According to the civil protection unit, simple measures such as putting important documents where they can easily be retrieved can make a great difference, as can stocking a hold-all with useful items ahead of evacuation.

These items might include basic snacks and dehydrated food, a radio, toiletries, books and games, spare clothing and comfort items for children such as favourite cuddly toys.

Further information can be found at the website swindon.gov.uk.