Thousands of homes in Dartford were left without water after a bust water main caused a sinkhole in a residential street.

The hole opened up in Priory Road on Sunday, and the street was flooded before Thames Water engineers were called to the scene.

Some residents fled their homes, climbing over fences and walls to avoid the water, while others moved their cars to avoid damage from the rising water.

Priory Road resident Raigam Chamindi said no one knew how bad the flood was going to get as the water levels rose.

"I came out with my children and saw the pipe had burst," she said. "It was scary, I didn't know what would happen. Some people were jumping over the fence to get up the road."

Another resident who wished not to be named added: "I called my neighbour and said 'can you see outside? The water's flooding'.

"It was about 8.30pm when I saw it. It was all over the pavement. We came outside and thought 'oh my god.'

"Some people walked away, some people took their cars away."

Water flooded around 50 metres up the road, covering the pavement and threatening to rise further towards properties.

Another resident added: "It started as a crack in the road, then all the water came up. The water was really dirty, and it went over the pavement.

"We wanted to escape. I was thinking it would damage the house, so I climbed over the walls to get away.

"We went and stayed in a hotel. It was a bit worrying."

Thames Water said engineers cut off the water flow around 9.30pm on Sunday, and the flood water was drained away.

The road was closed to traffic and pedestrians throughout the morning, until the workers were able to reopen the footpath at around 1am.

One pedestrian trying to walk back home to Grosvenor Crescent today, explained how the flood had also affected their house and a number of other homes.

"I tried to turn on the water at about 8.30pm but there wasn't any," she said. "One of the neighbours explained what had happened with the water pipe.

Some of the neighbours started giving out bottled water to families. It came back on when I got up about 3am."

An update on their Thames Water's website stated: "Thanks for letting us know about low water pressure and no water in DA1, DA2 & DA9.

"Our specialist engineers have now arrived in area and are working hard to get your water supply back to normal as quickly as possible

"We’re really sorry if this has disrupted your day.

"As soon as we have an update, we’ll let you know."

A further statement from the company this morning added: "We’re sorry to customers in the Dartford area who had no water or lower pressure than normal last night due to a burst pipe. Our engineers have shut in the burst and customers should be back in supply."

According to a sign on the site, repair work on the road is estimated to finish on August 12.

West Hill ward councillor Julie Ozog was also at the scene today with husband Jan Ozog, KCC councillor for Dartford West.

She said they were hoping to assess the situation and the repair work.

"We saw what happened on Facebook and thought we would come down to have a look," she said. "One of the mains pipes has burst and it's blown the road out.

"I think it's easy enough to fix the pipe but it's the repair of the road that takes time."

The burst main follows South East Water's the recent announcement of a hosepipe ban, after weeks of dry weather.