Repairs to broken water pipes which have caused flooding in Crayford will continue for at least the rest of the week, it has been announced.

There has been disruption in Crayford Road since October 4 when a 12-inch wide pipe inside the railway bridge burst.

While this was being fixed, a connecting 18-inch pipe also burst in the early hours of October 9 which left around 5,000 properties in Bexley, Dartford and Greenwich without water.

Flooding after the second burst pipe led to vehicles in the Town Hall development being crushed when the water caused the floor of the car park to swell and rise.

Thames Water, which has not yet put a completion date on the repairs, said its engineers were working from 7am until 10pm last week finishing repairs to one of the damaged pipes before moving on to a more complex job towards the High Street.

The company also said “resilience work” will need to be carried out away from Crayford Road to ensure water supplies to customers are not interrupted, meaning there may be periods of inactivity at the site of the repairs.

Thames Water senior operations manager Danny Leamon said: "Our priority since the burst has been to get everything back to normal as quickly as possible. It was our pipe and is our responsibility to put right.

"This is a very complicated repair due to the depth and location of the pipe – surrounded by other large water pipes and a gas main.

“We’re also determined to keep our customers’ taps flowing during the work, and so must take each step very carefully to avoid further disruption."

Road diversions remain in place during the repairs, but the nearby retail park is still open.