A BURST pipe left dozens of homes without water for several hours and caused flooding in Cashes Green.

Householders have expressed relief that no one was injured after a 10-inch underground water main burst in Foxmoor Lane with such force that rubble was sent flying into the air.

They have also praised heroic neighbours who rushed to help after water began spewing out at a rate of around 3,000 metres per minute at 9.30pm last Tuesday.

A surge of water gushed down the Glynfield Rise cul-de-sac, coming to the doorsteps of three properties and flooding one home causing damage to carpets.

Severn Trent Water said it got a team on site as fast as possible but with the nearest crew being in Birmingham it meant engineers arrived just before 11.30pm - around two hours after the burst.

Some properties were left without water until 11am the following day and Cashes Green Primary School was forced to close for the day because no water was available on site.

After an urgent appeal for sandbags was posted on social media, neighbours rushed to save the threatened properties using brushes and shovels to keep the water back.

Luckily, builders in the area quickly supplied sandbags.

Jim Stinchcombe watched as water crept up to his doorstep.

“It was a bit scary, I was watching the TV and then one of my neighbours came running warning us about the water,” said Mr Stinchcombe, a 78-year-old retired engineer who did his best to help.

“The community spirit was just brilliant.

"I don’t even know half of those who helped or where they came from but they all mucked in.

"I think virtually everyone from the estate came to help us all.

“We found pieces of wood and placed them on top of the water to try to keep it back.

"Eventually someone came with sandbags which made it a lot easier.

“The water came up to my doorstep and it was like a tide.

"If we hadn’t come out and stopped it the water would definitely have gone into my house.”

Resident Marion Suthers, who is recovering from a stroke, was afraid to sleep that night.

“It was really quite disturbing," said the 79-year-old retired retail worker.

"We were so lucky the water didn’t come in. It was gushing straight into down to my neighbours' home and they’ve had to have their carpets out which is probably very expensive.

“Everybody did what they could. We have lovely neighbours.

"We’ve always had a good little community here. If anything is wrong you can rely on someone to help you out.”

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said the force of the initial surge could have easily caused a serious injury.

She said: “When the water burst out of the pipe, it shot out bricks and pieces of the road straight into the air. Can you imagine if someone was standing near it?”

A spokesperson for Severn Trent Water said: “We’re really sorry to any customers who were affected by the burst water pipe in Stroud on Tuesday, June 14.

“Our engineers responded straight away that evening and were able to restore supply to most of the surrounding properties overnight with all repairs completed by 11am the following morning.

“We were notified of the incident at 9.45pm. Our regional team mobilised straight away and arrived on site just before 11.30pm.

“We would like to offer our sincere apologies to customers who were affected for any inconvenience caused and would like to thank them for their patience while our teams worked hard to resolve the issue."