Former Chippenham Rugby Club captain Tom Crockett has been caught up in the floods that have devastated the state of Queensland in Australia.

Mr Crockett, 33, originally from North Wraxall, near Chippenham, has been living in Australia for four years with his wife Bella and two children, Metias, five and Finn, two.

He currently lives in Toowoomba, near Brisbane, which has been one of the worst-hit areas, and runs a health club in the town.

He said: “There was just a huge amount of water that surged in and ripped through everything. The flood walls broke down and the water just took over the town.

“I reckon the levels of water must have got up to about eight metres in places. It has been devastating. The rivers have overflowed and spilled water everywhere.

“We are lucky because we live on top of the hill. Some of the villages below have been completely wiped out.

“We have seen people abandoning their cars and then seen vehicles being picked up by the water and floating away. It is pretty scary.”

The floods first hit the state in December, before flash floods devastated Toowoomba last week after more than six inches of rain fell in just 36 hours.

Three quarters of Queensland has been declared a disaster zone and the financial cost of the damage is expected to run into billions of dollars.

Mr Crockett, brother of Worcester Warriors rugby star Alex Crockett, said his house had been largely unaffected, as had his business, which is around a mile away.

But the story was not so fortunate for many of his friends and neighbours.

He said: “It has been terrible for some people. One of my friends has lost both their mother and brother.

“A lot of people we know have lost their homes and businesses. I think we are probably over the worst of it but now is going to be the start of a very long clean-up process.

“Ultimately people need to assess the damage and start the long road towards getting back on track.

“But looking at the damage to some of the houses and buildings there is going to be no recovering from it.”