A Perthshire Italian bistro has thanked the community after it was flooded for the second time.
La Sicilyana in Scone was working to reopen after a burst pipe flooded the venue just before Christmas in 2022.
Owners Steven Dalton and Laura Raimondi got to work on a full refurbishment of the award-winning bistro back in January.
But disaster struck on Wednesday when torrential rain forced a torrent of water to pour into their family business.
The couple have now thanked the local community after an “army” of volunteers responded to their plea for help and rallied around to help sweep out the water.
Laura told The Courier: “The mud and water was pouring in through the door.
“It wasn’t just us – the village was inundated with it.
“We were almost ready to open and then this happened.
“The call for help was very effective as a lot of people gave us a hand.
“They saved our business. The mud would have been hard today if it wasn’t swept out so promptly.
“There was such an energy and enthusiasm of people who were helping. It was an army of people cleaning, mopping and polishing.
“We just want to say a huge thank you. Our appreciation goes out to everyone for not just yesterday but the past 18 months.
“The bistro has been missed and people want to see it open again.”
Scone bistro hit by flooding for second time
The venue is due to host a private event on June 26 and Laura says the couple should be “back on track” with the refurbishment in a few days.
“Now we just have to give it a good clean but that can’t be helped”, Laura added.
Laura and Steven have turned their focus to selling wine online since the bistro has been closed.
Steven said the couple are trying “desperately” to have the venue prepared so they can host the event.
He added that they’re not sure what they would have done without help from the community.
He said: “The whole community pulled together. I don’t know what we would have done without them – it would have been much worse.
“I’ve lived in Scone my whole life and I’ve never seen such a torrent of water come down that road as it did yesterday.
“It was like a flash flood. It was complete devastation.
“We’re trying desperately to prepare so that we can do the event and then we shouldn’t be far from getting the rest of the place ready to open.”
The bistro is hoping to sell frappes, milkshakes and smoothies on its reopening, as well as Italian coffee, wine, gelato and pizza.
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