FURIOUS residents have spoken of the devastation caused by a burst water main which left their homes flooded.

As reported in the Guardian last week, the ruptured water piped affected homes from Great Sankey to Woolston, leaving 16,000 households with murky water and low pressure.

But worst hit were the homes on Charter Avenue which were flooded.

One angry resident is Clare Goldsmith. She was still up at 3am, having a cup of tea when she heard a noise.

"I went outside and it was like the white water rapids coming down the street! Then it started coming up through the floor. And it brought lots of mud and dirt with it," she said.

Mrs Goldsmith said the disaster recovery team had to move all her furniture and rip up her floors to stem the flooding and minimise the damage.

Fellow Charter Avenue resident, Mr John Sharp, said: "It was just unreal. We had about 2ft of water flooding the street. Cars were filled up with water. My car has been written off.

"It was full up the hand-break. People over the road have still got no carpets. It will take a while to sort out."

United Utilities have accepted full responsibility and are paying to restore Clare's damaged floor.

She is hoping they will get it sorted soon as she has two daughters - Cerys, aged one, and Hannah, aged 10 - who can't play in the house because it's unsanitary.

At least four other houses were flooded on the street.

A spokesman for United Utilities said: "We do apologise for any inconvenience caused but we went straight out to see those affected and discussed the best way to make good any damage."