Here, we take a look back at the Isle of Wight flooding which took its toll on East Cowes in the mid-1980s.

It was a time, as evidenced in one of the pictures, when you could pick up a packet of cigarettes for 99p – a king’s ransom, no?

It was also a time when banks and post offices were commonplace in a town, and this fabulous collection of photos from John Cole shows firefighters attending the scene to lend aid to residents.

Many of the shops photographed are no longer trading, how many do you remember?