Ancient books and manuscripts, some dating back to the 16th century, that have been affected by devastating floods in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna are being stored in freezers in an effort to salvage them.

Volunteers have been transporting the books and other precious documents, which became submerged in water and mud in flooded libraries in the worst-affected areas, to Cesena, where the items will be placed on shelves in temperatures of -25C in industrial-size freezers provided by Orogel, a company that specialises in frozen food.