Damp specialists in Limburg are struggling to cope with a backlog of queries following the heavy rain and river flooding that hit southern regions during the spring.

Marc van de Vossenburg, based in Ysselsteyn, told L1 Nieuws he was experiencing his busiest period in 37 years in the trade.

“We have 60 cellars on our waiting list that still have to be looked at,” he said. “We can’t really cope with the work.”

Peterjan Muijsers, of Vochtwering Totaal in in Venray, said he was working through the summer holiday period, when the building trade usually shuts down for four weeks, for the first time in his career.

“Our diary is already full for December,” he said. “In the past the longest customers had to wait was two months,

Muijsers said the largest number of calls were to deal with flooded cellars and mould caused by rising damp or water penetration in walls.

He said the problem had been made worse by the tendency to build drainage verges known as “wadis” in urban areas to retain excess rainwater. The green ditches were introduced in the 1990s to combat the threat of drought.

“Small ditches are not well maintained, which leads to drainage deteriorating. This new policy of retaining water is leading to exceptional water levels and pressure on cellars,” he said.