Tenants at a Norwich block of flats spoke of their shock after water began flooding into their homes as a result of a burst water main.

Eastern Daily Press: The burst water main at Portway Place in Norwich which damaged nearby homes including that of Kesia Omari and her family(l to r) Rhoda, Junior and Emmanuel. PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAYThe burst water main at Portway Place in Norwich which damaged nearby homes including that of Kesia Omari and her family(l to r) Rhoda, Junior and Emmanuel. PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAY (Image: Archant Norfolk)

Firefighters were called to pump out water from four ground floor flats off Old Palace Road at the weekend, which caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage. The incident happened at around 3pm on Saturday when a water main in nearby Portway Place burst and water flooded into people's gardens their homes.

Adolphe Aoci returned to his home at 5 Old Palace Road in the early hours of yesterday to find that around two inches of flood water had got into his living room and kitchen.

The father-of-four said the carpets and floor boards were ruined as a result of the flooding.

'A lot of the flood is damaged and we need to buy and replace it. This is the second time it has happened. It happened two years ago, but it did not affect our house because we called the fire service early,' he said.

Sarah Collins, who lives at 1 Old Palace Road, said they avoided the worst of the flooding.

'We were really lucky. The water came in a tiny bit in the back door and it could have been much worse. They [Anglian Water] have been quite good about it and have been knocking on our door to tell us not to go out the back because there is a big hole.'

'You do not expect floods here. The fire service said that some of the places got it quite bad and it is a bad thing to happen just before Christmas,' she said.

Firefighters from Earlham Fire Station were called out on Saturday as a result of the flooding at 3.15pm and used a light portable pump to remove water from the affected properties and spent more than an hour at the scene. The incident resulted in Portway Place being closed yesterday.

A spokesman for Anglian Water said: 'Unfortunately four properties were flooded internally. Our operational team and the loss adjusters have contacted the customers, landlord and tenants at the affected properties. The wheels are in motion to sort out what's required to get things back to normal.'