'Devastation' after Derbyshire village floods due to pipe rupture

Six homes have been left in an unliveable state after a water main puncture flooded a village.

A huge volume of water shot metres into the air when a farmer caused the rupture near Milford, Derbyshire, at about 11:20 GMT on Tuesday.

Water flowed into the village and about 30 homes were flooded, six of which are badly damaged.

Che Greggson, who lives in one of the houses, on the A6 Derby Road, said the flood had caused "devastation".

He said: "My wife phoned me up, she's heavily pregnant, she rang me up in a bit of a flap.

"[The water] seeped into the utility room and kitchen, but it was nowhere as bad as next door and the houses opposite."

The county council and Severn Trent Water worked overnight to allow the reopening of the A6, which passes through the village.

The clean-up has been taking place across Milford and neighbouring Makeney.

Alex Wilbraham, the owner of the Holly Bush, in Makeney Road, said "torrential, forceful water" gushed for four hours.

"Volumes of [water] coming down the lane brought the bridleway with it... the tarmac is pulled up.

"We didn't get sandbags for four hours because they were diverted to Milford where the houses were being flooded.

"We managed to fill up bin bags with grit to divert the flow of water away from the pub."

Ian Busting, who said his wife's florist business had been "ruined" by the flooding, has been taken aback by the generosity of local people.

He said: "We stayed away last night, [but] people have dropped by and they've been really kind."

Severn Trent Water had said the damage had been caused by a "third party" doing work.

It said on Wednesday: "Our teams dug down to the pipe last night and have been able to assess the damage.

"As the pipe is one of the largest we operate, we're having to get a new one built which will take some time because it's such a big job."

The company did not expect there to be problems with water supply.

Derbyshire Police said the pipe was struck by a farmer, although officers are not investigating the incident.

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