Camille Clarke

Twelve pre-school­ers, two teach­ers and three of­fi­cers crammed in­to a po­lice jeep yes­ter­day to es­cape flood wa­ters which rav­aged the Lit­tle Lead­ers Ear­ly Child­hood Learn­ing Cen­tre, Mar­aval.The pre-school is a day care dylex­ia re­me­di­a­tion cen­tre for chil­dren be­tween the ages of one and five.A re­port said around 2.30 pm, of­fi­cers of the St Clair Po­lice Sta­tion and Fire Ser­vices of­fi­cers re­ceived a call that flood wa­ters en­tered the school premis­es and homes of res­i­dents at La Sei­va Ter­race, La Sei­va Vil­lage, Mar­aval.

Sgt Kei­th Lu­cas, Cpl En­ni­son and PC Chris­t­ian Clarke re­spond­ed and when they ar­rived saw the area un­der two feet of wa­ter.They chil­dren were tak­en to the house of one of the prin­ci­pal's rel­a­tives at Up­per Bournes Road, St James. The prin­ci­pal (who re­fused to be named) praised the po­lice for their quick re­sponse.

She said all the chil­dren's toys, fur­ni­ture and oth­er items at the school were un­der­wa­ter.She hoped par­ents and teach­ers will vol­un­teer their ser­vices to clean up the school to­day. Yes­ter­day's heavy down­pour al­so caused a traf­fic grid­lock yes­ter­day af­ter­noon from Mar­aval to the Beetham High­way.