Furious residents fear they will not be able to return to their homes for several months after a number of properties were flooded by a burst water main.

People living in Whitstable Road, Canterbury, were awoken at about 4.30am to the sound of running murky liquid gushing down the hill from a faulty pipe close to the junction with University Road.

Within minutes, Stephen Green, who lives in a ground-floor flat in Cherry Garden Road, says water was pouring out of his plug sockets and that several feet of it had accumulated outside his front door.

The 48-year-old said: "When I woke up, I heard some water, which I thought was heavy rain.

"When I opened my front door I could see a wave of water coming towards me.

"Within 40 seconds, it was coming through the walls and electric plug sockets - so I grabbed the dog and got out of there."

Mr Green believes thousands of pounds of his possessions were damaged by the flooding.

The route was closed at about 7am between the junctions with Harkness Drive and University Road.

Fire engines, Kent County Council (KCC) vehicles, a police car and Red Cross van were all spotted at the scene this morning as brown water continued to roll down St Thomas Hill.

Gas engineer Nik Ross, who also lives in a ground-floor flat in Cherry Garden Road, says a pipe burst at the same spot 14 months ago.

The 46-year-old fears, like last time, he and his partner could be forced to live in holiday accommodation for a number of months until his home is ready to be moved back into.

"I heard a droning noise in the middle of the night and then my partner woke up and screamed 'it's happening again, it's happening again'," he added.

"I felt like I was dreaming it. The water was coming in through the flat by that point.

"As it's happened once before, we were fairly calm about it - but now the anger is starting to set in. It's up in the same spot as last time.

"It was on June 15 of last year and we moved back in at the very end of October."

Mr Ross says his flat is in "total devastation" after being flooded by about two feet of water.

South East Water says 10 properties are currently without tap water and that Whitstable Road remains closed as the company attempts to fix the leak.

The firm's regional network manager, Jenny Rhodes, said: “We are very sorry to anyone impacted.

“Our repair team is on site and has started fixing the damaged pipe which is a 12-inch-diameter water main.

“We have also dispatched a dedicated relief team after the burst unfortunately caused some flooding to some nearby properties.

“Once the pipe has been fixed we will work with our customers and specialist advisors to rectify any damaged caused.

“We know 10 properties are currently without tap water and bottled water has been delivered to their door.

“Although rare, unfortunately leaks and bursts like this can occur on our vast network of underground pipes.”

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