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The room was used as a surgery by Dr John Pittard, 66, after his own practice was flooded. With a large double bed and mahogany desk, it made an ideal replacement at short notice, he said. The room also has panoramic views of the River Thames, the waterway responsible for flooding dozens on homes and businesses in the town.

"Because everyone is still in that denial phase, including me. One or two have said it's quite surreal, here we are in a room that is as glamorous as you can get in an oldie worldy place in the middle of all this strife and trouble.

"One typical example was a patient who had lived in a house for 30 or 40 years. She was evacuated by the police a day or so ago and they have gone back in waders and found there it four feet of water in their living room and everything destroyed and it is the sentiment of that, some people have found this really very distressing."

Dr Pittard closed his surgery after the car park flooded and drainage stopped working, meaning the toilets could not be used. Administration staff from his practice stayed behind to answer phones and then bring over patients records.

Dr Pittard said: "The hotel is only 150 metres from the surgery and there is a pharmacy only 200 metres away at the supermarket. So we are booking people in over the phone and bringing the records up in wellington boots keeping it confidential as I don't have a computer here. It's worked fairly well and I am seeing someone about once every twenty minutes, about half the speed I normally work."

Jim Ross, the landlord of The Swan, gave Dr Pritchard use of the room - which normal costs £145 a night - for free. The pub has also become a refuge centre for emergency services, people who have been evacuated and volunteers, including members of Surrey 4x4, a group of 4x4 owners who have given up their time to rescue people trapped by the floods.

Mr Ross said: "We have opened it up to anybody who has been affected by or working in the rescue for tea and coffee. We have had a lot of cancellations for rooms as we have obviously had to advise people that we may be evacuated and people can't get here. So rather than leave the rooms empty or resell them at short notice, we have been giving them to anybody who has been evacuated. We have three families in. One of them is over from Australia, they are on a house swap for three months, and they have swapped it for this, so obviously I have let them stay until they get somewhere organised. And then the doctor came in last night and asked if we could have the surgery here and of course, it's the old British spirit and the community comes together.

It's amazing how the community spirit changes completely and everybody just gets together."