Rude awakening as road resembles river

Residents in a Wolverhampton street today spoke of "waves of water" gushing towards their homes as an underground main burst, turning their road into a river.

See also: Huge flood hits Wolverhampton homes

Thousands of homes have been left without supplies after the main burst in Stowheath Lane, while dozens have been left under water.

Piles of towels were used by residents to stop homes from flooding as crowds gathered in the street to watch the drama unfold.

Stowheath Lane resident Clare McTaggart said: "My neighbour was banging on the door at 8am this morning.

"I was absolutely stunned. I thought there had been a major rainstorm.

"Then I saw the burst pipe. We have been very lucky.

"The water has come right up to the doorstep but none of it has gone inside."

The 31-year-old mother of two, who is expecting her third child in 12 weeks, added: "I can't imagine what it would have been like if my new born baby had been here."

Chris Seehan, 24, was forced to abandon his car journey taking his girlfriend to work at 7.45am today because of the water, which reached 2ft at its deepest.

He said: "I got to the end of the road and the car just stopped working. There was too much water in the engine. In the end I had to call a taxi for her."

Brian Slater, 56, found himself knee deep in water during his morning jog after underestimating the depth of the water.

He said: "I was just out for a run and thought I could make it across the road.

"It did not look too deep on the pavement but I got a soaking."

The burst pipe has caused affected more than 10,000 homes in Wednesfield and Willenhall, leaving them without water supplies or low pressure.

Temporary traffic lights were this afternoon installed to control traffic in the road while firefighters from Bilston continued to pump away thousands of gallons of water.

Severn Trent today apologised as workers waded through the water to try and solve the problem.

West Midlands Police spokeswoman Helen Thompson said: "We are managing the traffic and have introduced traffic controlling measures on Stowheath Lane.

"We were called around 8am and we have closed a section of Stowheath Lane from its junction with Thornton Road and Wentbridge Road and are advising motorists to avoid the area."

Father-of-three Tony McKenzie, aged 50, said: "I have had to telephone work and tell them there is no way I can come in.

"It's going to take us a couple of days to try and sort everything out.

"We are having to move all of our property upstairs and we do not know if we will have to move out yet. Water is still pumping out onto the street."

Severn Trent spokeswoman Grace Marren said: "We would like to apologise to our customers in the Willenhall and Wednesfield areas who are currently affected by loss of water supply."

Severn Trent was re-routing an underground network of pipes to return supplies to 6,000 homes as soon they could.