8:21am Friday 27th July 2007
By Daniel Knowles
The sandbags remain in place, but the Thames flood risk has been downgraded.
The Environment Agency has reduced the Thames rating to "flood watch" between Staines and Shepperton.
While a flood remains possible, it is unlikely after the Thames reached its peak height yesterday.
Sandbags were put in place on Wednesday but now the emergency services are scaling back in the area.
The alert down grading follows less rain falling this week than predicted.
Surrey fire brigade is pulling back from low lying areas around Staines, Laleham, and Shepperton.
Parts of south west London and north east Surrey suffered local flooding from a torrential downpour last Friday when streets and homes were inundated with water and schools closed early.
Further away, about 200 people were put on flood evacuation standby in Chobham in Surrey after the River Bourne burst its banks on Friday.
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