West Midlands homes hit by flood

Hundreds of residents in the West Midlands woke to water gushing into their homes after a major water pipe ruptured today.

Around 150 homes were flooded with three feet of water when the water main at Barr Beacon Reservoir split. Thousands of litres of water poured into two roads in Streetly.

Seven fire engines converged on Yew Tree Road and Whitethorn Crescent to pump away water while police, South Staffordshire Water and electricity engineers were also alerted at 5.30am.

Emergency services warned residents to stay on the upper floors of their homes while they tackled the flooding.

An emergency rest centre has been set up to accommodate the affected families whose properties have suffered tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage.

A number of nearby roads were closed including Foley Road and Aldridge Road.

Yew Tree Road resident Shyama Petkar, 27, a teacher in Wolverhampton, was woken at about 5.15am by a neighbour banging on the door.

She said: "The water was everywhere, the whole place was covered. It was ghastly.

"It's caused lots of damage in my garage and to the wooden floor in my hall."

Rachel Barber, South Staffordshire Water's operations director, said: "A burst water main on a field adjacent to Aldridge Road has burst. We don't know what has caused it either. We are investigating."