Burst main floods the streets with knee-deep water and cuts off supply to hundreds of homes across north Surrey

• Hundreds of homes have been left without water after a water pipe cracked
• Two streets have been deluged with water that has reached 50-centimetres
• Six fire engines raced to the area this morning to begin pumping the water away 
• Have you been affected? Contact [email protected] 

Hundreds of homes have been left without water after a 10-inch crack appeared in a water pipe, flooding streets and leaving houses submerged in up to 50 centimetres of water.

More than 100 streets have been affected after gallons of water started gushing through Feltham, south west London, flooding Raleigh road and a neighbouring street at about 4.45am this morning.

Affinity water, which runs the network in the area, grappled with the disaster this morning after arriving five hours behind firefighters, but has now located the burst water main following a near-three-hour search and said it is preparing to begin making repairs. 

Six fire engines and as many as 40 firefighters rushed to the scene to pump water away from people’s homes.

It comes as 1,500 people have been evacuated from Whaley Bridge following fears that a Victorian-era dam could burst and sweep away the town.

Hundreds of homes have been left without water after a 10-inch crack appeared in a water pipe, causing streets to be deluged with up to 50 centimetres of water. (Pictured) The water level this morning on Raleigh road in Feltham, south west London

Firefighters were called to the scene at 4.45am this morning and later began pumping water away from people’s homes

A picture taken on Sunday morning shows the progress the RAF Chinook made in dumping one-tonne sandbags on the stricken dam in a bid to stop it from bursting as engineers assess the structure. The evacuees of Whaley Bridge have been warned it is not safe for them to return home today to collect essential items

Streets have been covered with knee-deep water submerging gardens, the bottoms of doorways, vehicles, and even stranding a cat.

Firefighters have been photographed using dingeys to get around the area as they begin removing the water.

Resident Michelle Voutte, who said flood water only came up to her front gate, told SurreyLive that ‘about ten houses down from us they had their garden flooded’.

‘And then further down front and back.’ 

Technicians from Affinity Water arrived in the leafy commuter-town at 9.30am but did not find the leak until after 12am.

They have begun pumping water away from the burst main, but claim they cannot begin excavation until they get permission from the Environment Agency. 

To restore water to other houses, the company said it was also looking at options for diverting water in its network to restore supply for ‘the majority of houses’.

It is not clear when any affected homes will have their water supply restored. 

They are set to receive bottled water as they continue to go without.

Raleigh road and part of neighbouring Bedfont road have been flooded, according to the London Fire Brigade.

‘Road closures are in place and some bus routes have been affected’, they said in a statement. 

Affinity water said in a statement that it ‘understands having your home or business flooded is a very upsetting experience’.

‘Our Incident Support Manager and Incident Team are on site and we are working to do all that we can to help and to make sure we put things right.

‘We are very sorry for the disruption caused by this burst, but rest assured our teams are working hard on site to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.’ 

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