RESIDENTS were woken up early on Monday morning to find that a water main in their road had burst and flooded homes and gardens for a fourth time.

A ruptured supply pipe down the middle of Littlewick Road in Knaphill sent thousands of gallons of water into the highway and into nearby properties, some of which had been flooded by previous leaks.

The cast iron main, believed to be more than 60 years old, caused extensive disruption when it burst in July last year and previously in January and February 2017.

On Monday, a resident called Surrey Fire and Rescue Service at 3.25am to say their home was being flooded. A crew from Woking stayed until 5.20am to help residents move property and keep out the water.

The 15-inch pipe ruptured near the section which was repaired a year ago. The pressure pushed up the road surface, which eventually buckled and allowed water to gush out.

The supply company, Affinity, cut off water to the area while its engineers isolated the leaking pipe. A company spokesman said the network was “re-zoned” to restore supplies.

Littlewick Road was closed from its junction with Horsell Birch to Lockfield Drive while workers dug a large hole to locate the leak and replace the damaged pipe.

The spokesman said that that the ageing main was due to replaced by October.

For the full story get the 25 July edition of the News & Mail