Stony Lane remains closed but a school and three other roads have reopened, and residents will soon be allowed back into their homes after fears eased of a rain-filled pond in Allerton spilling its contents.

Traffic is flowing again on Wilsden Road, Haworth Road and Cottingley Road but Stony Lane will remain closed for the next 24 hours as emergency services continue to pump out excess water and lower levels even more.

Assessments are being carried out by council officials to decide which of 15 evacuated residents can go back into their homes.

Emergency planning bosses and Fire & Rescue Service experts decided to evacuate people from homes below Sandy Lane pond yesterday as a precaution, as water threatened to overflow into the new housing development.

After a multi-agency meeting earlier today it was decided which roads could be re-open.

Mike Powell, Bradford Council's emergency planning manager, has praised residents for their patience and co-operation: "The most important thing is that no one was hurt and life is going back to normal.

"Everyone we have spoken to from the area seems to have understood why we did what we did, even if it has caused inconvenience. It was a precaution to evacuate people who could have been at risk most. It's been a useful exercise."

At its highest level, water in the pond was believed to have been the equivalent to ten or 11 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Fire crews have been pumping it out at about 300,000 litres an hour.