A CLEAN-UP operation has taken place in Nelson town centre after a burst water main caused serious flood damage.

Firefighters were called to Hibson Road and Broadway just after 2am on Friday after reports that water was gushing from a leak close to the Station Hotel.

The damage was caused by a burst water pipe at the junction of Broadway and Railway Street in Nelson.

While the surface water has been cleaned up, lasting damage has been done to the streets effected.

Sub postmaster at Nelson Post Office Anayat Vally believes the store will have to be closed for several weeks while repairs take place.

He said: “It’s affected the whole business, its had a very big impact. It’s a busy time for us at the start of the month, and we’ve had struggles anyway.

“The carpets were waterlogged and the floor has been lifted up.

“We’re suffering a lot for this, we’ve had to set safety barriers up to not let anyone in, and we had to send staff home.”

Crews distributed sandbags in an attempt to stem the worst of the flooding, but they could not prevent the damage to some of the properties, such as the post office.

Cllr Eileen Ansar, who runs a shop in the town centre, said: “The water had started to lift up some of the paving stones.

“It was a right mess, there was a lot of water, it was lucky it happened at two in the morning.

“People told me the water was about 12 or 13 inches deep, it was running down under the paths.”

The incident comes just weeks after thousands of gallons of water again spilled though the road surface of Nelson, that time on Bradley Hall Road and Fulham Street, after a 12-inch water main pipe split in two.

A Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “The crews radioed back that the flooding was affecting commercial properties in the area and water was coming along the road.

“Their assessment was that it was a burst water main so they contacted United Utilities and engineers were sent out to the scene to deal with the incident.

“The firefighters placed barriers in the path of the floodwaters in an attempt to safeguard the surrounding properties.”

A United Utilities spokesman said: “Our teams are working closely with these businesses to help clear-up, so they can get back to business as normal.”

“To repair the damaged pipe, we will need to put traffic management in place and we do apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.”

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: “We’ll assess the damage to the road and ensure the repairs which are needed are carried out as soon as possible.”