Huge flood hits Wolverhampton homes

Thousands of gallons of water gushed into houses today after an underground main burst along a busy Black Country route - leaving thousands of homes without supplies.

Stow Heath Lane, East Park, Wolverhampton, was today under 2ft of water after a mains pipe burst.

Dirty water gushed into homes along the road - while more than 10,000 houses in Wednesfield and Willenhall were left without running water or low pressure.

• See more pictures in our gallery to your right

Residents in dressing gowns clutching mugs of tea gathered in the street to watch the drama unfold.

Firefighters, police and Severn Trent workers were today at the scene trying to repair the damage, which was reported at 7.30am.

Devastated residents reported "waves" of water gushing towards their homes as police cars and fire engines drove along the road to try and solve the problem. Cars have been banned from driving along the street.

Several inches of water swamped Tony McKenzie's home. The 50-year-old father of three said: "I was shocked. At first I thought where is all this rain coming from because I couldn't see the burst pipe. Every time a car went past the house the water was coming across the room like a wave. All of my electrical items are ruined."

"We piled clothing behind the front door to try and stop the water getting through."

Laura Griffiths, 34, said her son Brent, 16, woke up early to go to work this morning and discovered water was gushing from a pipe in the middle of the road.

She said: "I had to call the police as drivers were carrying on trying to get down here and it was sending a big wave of water towards the house each time. At 8am you could still see bits of the road but now it is completely under water."

Firefighters from Bilston station were today pumping water from the road. 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.

"This is due to a burst we have on a large water main on Stow Heath Lane in Wolverhampton."

By Alex Campbell