The last time fire crews in the Lewes command room left work it was in their wellies and by rescue boat.

Yesterday, two months after they were flooded out of their offices, the staff returned armed with humidifiers and a note of optimism.

The control room for East Sussex Fire Brigade was knocked out of operation during the October floods when the River Ouse rose and swamped the building to the second floor.

The centre, which handles 999 calls and emergencies, was evacuated in half a day to the brigade's headquarters in King Henry's Road, Lewes.

Phil White, Andy Batchelor and Martin Jones were on duty in the Fire Intelligence Unit when the Titanic-like disaster struck.

Mr White said: "It was the first time I have ever had to leave this building by boat, but we never missed a call.

"The rain had stopped and the sun was shining, so we went out for lunch but then we got a phone call to come back. Martin was moving everybody's cars and by the time he had done that he had lost his own under four feet of water.

"The first three staff went up to establish a control room in headquarters and by the time that was set up the water had come up and was one foot deep on the second floor.

"It was just the speed that it came up."

Several staff members lost their cars, bikes and change of clothes as the first floor was swallowed up by the Ouse.

The remaining staff were evacuated by the Brighton RNLI crew as they watched water lapping the portholes in their doors.

The command crews finally found themselves relocated to Hove fire station, in English Close, where the six-strong team were sealed in one room.

The Lewes centre is now full of workmen as contingency measures are put in place to ensure the floods cannot strike at the heart of the fire authority's operation again.

Seventeen different companies have been working round the clock to re-install the equipment in only five weeks. It took six months to organise when the centre was originally opened.

The damage, which will run into thousands of pounds, is gradually being put right and a new computer suite is being installed six feet above the flood level.