Following a struggle to secure sandbags during recent heavy floods, a volunteer group has found an innovative alternative.

The Norfolk and Suffolk 4x4 Response team is made up of 60 volunteers who use their sturdy vehicles to respond to emergencies across the two counties.

The group's chairman, Kalvin McLeod, said that during recent flooding, the volunteers found moving enough traditional sandbags to be nearly impossible.

The former RAF technician said: “We had to go to several locations to pick up the old-style traditional sandbags but when we got to some the sandbags had deteriorated and fallen apart .

"At others we found they’d been taken by council highways staff to weigh down road signs so, although on paper, there should have been 200 sandbags, in reality there were only around a dozen left.

Beccles & Bungay Journal: FloodSax come in boxes of 20 with five in each of the four packs inside FloodSax come in boxes of 20 with five in each of the four packs inside (Image: Norfolk and Suffolk 4x4 Response)

“It took us four hours to drive around picking up what we could and then taking them to the flooding emergency but by then it was too late or we simply didn’t have enough sandbags.

"By the end of that mission we’d clocked up 150 miles, often driving in torrential rain or through floodwater.

“We thought there must be a better way.”

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The team sought to find a better solution and were introduced to FloodSax alternative sandbags, which proved easier to store, transport and use.

The FloodSax are vacuum-packed, lightweight and space-saving, ensuring the group can now respond to any flooding incident within two hours.

Mr McLeod added: "When we discovered FloodSax we immediately thought ‘why hadn’t we known about these earlier?"

Beccles & Bungay Journal: Norfolk and Suffolk 4x4 Response reacts to emergency call-outs Norfolk and Suffolk 4x4 Response reacts to emergency call-outs (Image: Norfolk and Suffolk 4x4 Response)

Floodsax work by floodwater being absorbed into the special gelling polymer inside of them.

They retain the water instantly becoming a sandless sandbag weighing around 20kg.

Norfolk and Suffolk 4x4 Response reacts to emergency call-outs from people stuck and needing assistance to places that are inaccessible by other vehicles.