The groups main press-making plant is less than a mile from the river, but three metres higher than its banks.

Tippers and diggers recently scooped earth to dam the river, said Klaus Schmidt, KBAs director of marketing.

The water came closer and closer, but we are safe, he said. German and Polish firemen have helped and employees placed sandbags.

The main factory has 2,000 staff and sells 357m of sheetfed presses a year.

Its other factory, for Karat digital presses, is further away from the Elbe and also safe, Schmidt said.

Cleaning up roads may cause minor distribution problems, he added. The floods are the worst for 500 years and damage will cost around 13bn to put right.