A BURST water pipe caused major problems in Allerton yesterday morning, with maintenance teams working into the evening to control it.

The pipe, on Allerton Road at the junction of Bull Royd Avenue, was seen spraying a large amount of water as if it was being fired from a water cannon.

The burst caused multiple issues in the surrounding area including, direct impact from the water, road closures and water supplies being affected.

Several witnesses confirmed that there were flooded houses and gardens following the burst and footage on social media showed Allerton Road completely deluged (see below).

Yorkshire Water were made aware of the issue and sent workers to the scene as quickly as possible to carry out urgent repairs.

Brendan Fisher, 30, said: "I was just bobbing down Allerton Road. What had happened, it's exploded out of the road. There were slabs of tarmac 30-odd feet away from the hole.

"There was loads of water - it was flooding all down the road, it was quite deep."

Another onlooker, who wished to remain anonymous, said the whole road had lifted up, as well as the kerb, due to the pressure.

He said: "Rocks were flying down Bull Royd Avenue and at the bottom all the houses were extremely flooded - at I guess I'd say about 15-20 houses."

One of the worst affected was Maxine Hayman's home, just off Bull Royd Lane (see below).

She said: "Being caught up in a flood rivalling Niagara Falls wasn't on my to do list today. We got the brunt of the major mains burst on Allerton Road and needless to say we've got quite a mess to clear up and lounge carpet, shed and workshop to dry out.

"We live off Bull Royd Lane so the water came in torrents down Bull Royd Avenue and it's only outlet was then straight through our garden. It'd just started to breach our back door into the living room when the water was stopped thankfully."

Mrs Hayman was also worried about the welfare of three wild hedgehogs she feeds.

She said: "My son unscrewed some of the decking once the water had receded to check for them but we couldn't see anything so hopefully they were in a different nest. It's caused a lot of anxiety and worry. I'll just have to see if they come for their food tonight."

She wanted to thank Yorkshire Water for their support and for acting very quickly.

Members of its customer service and flood recovery teams were in attendance as soon as possible to support those who were affected, a spokesperson confirmed.

Muhummed Tariq, who lives in the area, had to help his disabled neighbour move from his chair in the front garden, that was sat in 2 feet of water.

He said: "My neighbour, who is a disabled gentleman and uses a wheelchair, was sat outside his house on a chair. His wife asked me to help her take him back inside, out of the water."

Yorkshire Water told one woman that water supplies had to be redirected due to the burst water pipe.

Charlotte Wilkinson, who lives around a mile away in Allerton itself, said: "Our water supply was cut off for about two hours - roughly from 11am-1pm. I know most houses on Chapel Lane, Oakes Lane and neighbouring streets were off."

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: "Due to the size of the burst we have had to close the road with diversions in place and we apologise for the inconvenience caused. We are working hard to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum and the pipe is fixed as quickly as possible."