Residents in Timperley woke in the early hours to find their street flooded and their gardens submerged after a water pipe burst.
Water began gushing from the pipe at around midnight yesterday (Monday), causing flooding on Stockport Road and Wellington Road. The water was up to knee-level in the worst affected areas, with some cars left stranded and bins pictured floating around in the deluge.
Residents in the WA15 postcode area were left with no water or low pressured water, with some local schools also forced to close due to the issue. James Ashton, who lives with his family on Stockport Road, directly next to the junction with Wellington Road where the pipe burst, noticed that the power had gone off in his home at around midnight yesterday.
READ MORE: Schools closed and homes left without water as burst pipe causes major flooding in Altrincham
He spotted water coming through into his porch area then looked outside to see his driveway was flooded. "The whole garden was completely submerged", he said.
"We went out of the back door and the water at the front was probably up to our knees. We phoned the police because we were worried in case anyone was driving in it or there were any crashes, and they phoned United Utilities straight away."
James said that by 1am, emergency workers were on scene helping local residents. He added that United Utilities were extremely quick to respond.
He used two old doors to blockade his driveway, but his front garden was already completely flooded, he said. The water also went through to his garage, damaging what was inside.
Luckily, none of the floodwater went through to the house. "The garage was flooded and the porch area as well", James said.
"But they checked over everything with us to make sure everything was safe. They also checked our cars because of the water."
He added: "The water has all gone now it's just a bit of a mess." Yesterday, local resident Phil Steward told the M.E.N: "By dinner time there was no water at all.
"It's very sporadic at the moment, they have water tankers plugged into the mains network but they are dotted around places but they cant meet the demand from all the homes. It's been coming and going since then, and varies from no flow at all to something like a dreary hose pipe on summers day.
"There is a lot of surface water on the roads but hard to tell how much of that is from the pipes or the rain we've seen."
In an update issued this morning, United Utilities said engineers had been working 'non-stop through the night' to repair the burst pipe.
Repairs will continue throughout the day. Water tankers remain in place at the scene, though some residents might still have 'fluctuations' in their water pressure.
In full, the United Utilities update posted at 9.20am said: "We have been working non-stop throughout the night to complete the repairs to the burst water pipe, we’re sorry for any disruption caused by this.
"The repairs will continue today, and we want to assure you all that we are working as quickly as we can to get things back to normal. Whilst the work is ongoing our water tankers will remain in place, to help in our attempts to keep as many customers on supply as possible.
"Even though we have the further measures in place, some customers may notice fluctuations in their pressure especially at peak times of the day. We’re really grateful for everyone’s patience and understanding whilst we work to get your taps flowing again."
Wellington School and Altrincham College, which were both shut yesterday due the flooding, were both back open as normal today. Pictures showed tankers stationed on Stockport Road earlier as workers engineers continued to work on the pipe.
Sandbags could be seen outside some houses. Both Stockport Road and Wellington Road are back open as normal, though temporary lights are in place to manage the traffic flow.
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