A SUDDEN storm brought chaos to Darwen, leaving an 80-year-old woman in hospital with shock and a wallpaper factory flooded.

Sarah Armitage, of Bowling Green Close, was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary with chest pains last night after her ground-floor flat was flooded to skirting-board level.

And bosses at Zen Wallcoverings, Cross Street, were today counting the cost after a culvert underneath their Britannia Mill premises burst through the floor and flowed like a "tidal wave" through the factory.

Heavy rain swamped Darwen from 6-7pm, to the disbelief of residents who had earlier been enjoying summer sun.

An area off the A666 just up from the town centre around Bowling Green Close, Mayfield flats and Cross Street, was worst hit with thousands of litres of water per minute gushing out of the drains.

The problems were caused by culverts overflowing at the back of Bowling Green Close, home to many elderly people, and under Cross Street.

Police closed off the A666 for almost two hours to allow firefighters to pump the water away and council workers helped out, sandbagging properties for protection.

Mrs Armitage's son Bernard, of Cavendish Street, Darwen, was today anxiously awaiting news on her condition.

He said: "There were floods two years ago and she had spent nearly £1,000 for a new carpet and it had only been in for two weeks.

"The stress of that has done it - she spent money to make it look nice then it happens again.

"We have been complaining about the risk of floods for more than two years. The drains need sorting because they cannot cope."

John Clarke, financial director of Zen Wallcoverings, which employs 72 people, said the business would probably be closed until the water was pumped out and electrics checked.

He added: "We have been flooded three times but this was the worst. I've been told that it looked like a tidal wave passing through.

"It is a mess. It looks like the water reached up to four-feet high. We cannot say how much it has cost yet."

Frank Barnes' scrap metal processors next door to Zen was also hit.

Sub officer Alistair McLean said about eight homes in Bowling Green Close, a couple of a shops near Mayfield flats and the factories were flooded.

He added: "We were met with a phenomenal amount of water from the culvert.

"It overloaded the drains to the point where thousands of litres of water per minute were coming up."

Inspector Phil Davies said: "We were on a severe flood warning until 9pm but it seemed to subside after that."

The Environment Agency said that Lancashire had the all-clear from floods today.

No other serious flooding was reported in East Lancashire. Crews from Blackburn were sent to clean up in Preston after the deluge caused problems there.

The weather forecast for the next 24 hours has predicated less severe rain which will clear southwards later today.