A canal is being inspected after part of central Edinburgh was inundated with millions of gallons of water.

A mopping up operation has been taking place in the Fountainbridge area since the Union Canal burst at about 0430 BST on Sunday.

Police from Lothian and Borders Marine Unit had to rescue three people from their flats in Dundee Street, one of the worst affected areas.

A British Waterways spokesman said: "We have a team of engineers carrying out a strucutural survey on the canal at the moment to try to ascertain the cause.

Homes were ankle-deep in water

"We're not going to speculate what might have happened, we'll just have to wait and see what the survey concludes.

"We manage some 2,000 miles of waterway across the UK and I can't think of a precedent for a canal bursting its banks like this. It's very rare."

The results are expected on Monday afternoon.

The alarm was raised just after 0430 BST on Sunday and at its height the flood water was 5ft deep.

Some people in the area said they were woken by the sound of running water while others were alerted by neighhbours.

Brenda Nelson: "Gushing in"

Resident Brenda Nelson, who lives in a ground floor flat which was flooded, said: "We were all sleeping, the lady from next door came knocking and as we opened the door all of this water came gushing in.

"At that point the levels just rose and it filled up the flat to about just above my knee.

"All of our furniture just rose and was floating around, it was just such a disaster.

"We were just sitting on the highest point waiting for somebody to come as we looked out my heart jumped."

Householders in a tenement block sought refuge in flats upstairs and some roads were closed.

Staff at the Scottish Brewers plant also had to be evacuated as water poured in.