TOWNSFOLK woke up to a windy and watery nightmare on Monday morning with chaos throughout the day after some of the heaviest rain in the area for years. Overnight St Helens was battered by storms, lashed by torrential rain and just before dawn swept by snow blizzards.

Roads throughout the district soon became flooded, causing major traffic delays and some people were forced to flee their homes.

And the courageous efforts of bus driver, Darren Hunt were commended by police after he and another man rescued a motorist who was trapped in his car in the middle of almost five foot of water which had collected underneath the railway bridge at Peasley Cross Lane.

The incident happened at 6.40am when Darren, who was taking the Number 23 Arriva service to Marshalls Cross, was forced to abandon his route when a transit van in front went under the bridge and got stuck. However, as he phoned his depot, another car attempted to drive through the flood and also got stuck.

Dad of two, Darren (35), from Clock Face, told the Star: "The car driver wasn't moving so I knew something was wrong and I waded into the water with the transit driver to help him. I am 5ft 10ins and the water was already waist-deep on me and the man couldn't open his door to get out."

Darren managed to help the man get his car window down and he and the transit driver pulled him out that way. He added: "He was OK but very lucky because while we waited for the police, the car became completely submerged in the water.

"I was freezing by the time I got back to the depot and I was sent home but I was dreading facing my daughter because I had her mobile phone in my pocket and it was ruined with the water but thankfully she was fine when I explained what had happened."

A police spokesman said: "Mr Hunt did a marvellous job and actually risked his own life to get the driver free and PC John O'Neill, who attended the scene, has now recommended his for a special bravery award."

Ten homes in West End Road, Haydock, had to be evacuated on Monday after the canal nearby burst its banks near the Ship Inn and swamped the road.

The fire service were alerted at 8.10am and used an inflatable dinghy to help get people to safety."

The Ship Inn itself was also badly affected by the flood.

Licensee Pauline Roberts said: "The water started seeping in early in the morning and at its worst, the pub was submerged under three feet of mud and water.

Thankfully, it subsided by the afternoon but everywhere was covered in mud and the smell was dreadful.

"We live upstairs so our home wasn't affected but it will take us days to get things back to normal."

A spokeswoman for St Helens Council said: "The council has re-housed one of the families who were evacuated from West End Road and believe the others are staying temporarily with friends or relatives.

Three to four homes in Pinfold Drive in Eccleston and a farm in Sutton Farm Road also had to be evacuated after their houses flooded and Eccleston, Rainford and parts of Rainhill were also seriously affected by floods."

Merseytravel confirmed that train services had been substantially delayed throughout Monday everywhere in the region. However, by Tuesday services had more or less returned to normal.