THAMES Water says it is re-routing water into Crayford from elsewhere in the network after a burst water main flooded the town this morning.

A spokesman this afternoon confirmed engineers had shut off water running through the pipe, which burst at 2am this morning.

He said: "We have re-routed water into the affected area from other parts of our network.

"This has restored supplies to the majority of affected properties.

“We have shut off water running through the broken pipe.

“Work will now begin on clearing up the mess before fixing the pipe and rebuilding the road over the top of it."

Crayford Library and McDonald’s are currently closed and Crayford Road is likely to be shut for a week to allow the repair work to the "badly damaged road surface" be carried out.

Buses are being diverted after the water main near Crayford Town Hall burst and floods up to four feet deep greeted commuters this morning.

Buses on the 96, 428 and 492 routes are all facing diversions following the flood, which originates from a water pipe between Roman Way and Station Road.

Linda Barnes, 66, a sales assistant at washing machine repair business Automatica in Station Road, told News Shopper: “The water in Crayford’s a nightmare, it’s renowned for it.

“You always get water bubbling out of the drains and running down the road. I don’t know why it’s so bad.

A number of residents and shops in the town centre are without running water to their homes.

Free bottled water is being handed out behind McDonald’s to those affected.

Luke Riddington, owner of The Bed Post in Crayford Tower Retail Park, was greeted by police cars next to the flood when he arrived in work this morning.

He said: “It’s not the first time this has happened.

“About 12 years ago there was a great big flood outside Nando’s – the road was closed for about three weeks.

“I think they replaced a 10 metre strip of pipe but they didn’t replace the pipe outside McDonald’s and sure enough it’s gone.”

Mr Riddington, who opened up his bed shop when the retail park was built 14 years ago, fears the repair work will affect local trade.

He said: “It could take weeks to fix and word soon spreads. Once people hear what’s happened they might go somewhere else and may not come back because they find somewhere else.

“They think ‘we can’t get to Crayford, we’ll go to Dartford instead’.”

McDonalds has also been forced to a close, with a notice attached to the door reading: “Due to the lack of water supply to the restaurant we unfortunately cannot open the restaurant to customers until further notice. Sorry for any inconvenience.”

Buses are being diverted via Princes Road, Shepherds Lane, A2 and Roman Way, London Road, Bourne Road, A2.

Thames Water is aware of the incident and says engineers have been at the scene for hours battling the water.

A spokesman said: “Crayford Road is shut in both directions between the Station Road and Roman Way junctions after a large water main burst shortly after 2am today.

“This flooded the carriageway and badly damaged the road surface.

“Water supplies to some customers in the area have been interrupted.

"Our engineers are at the scene now working to sort out this problem as soon as possible.

“We are sorry to everyone inconvenienced by this."

An engineer at the scene said one of three water mains below the surface which serve the town centre has blown.