ROADS and gardens were left flooded as thousands of gallons of water escaped from a broken pipe.

Westmount Road and Elibank Road in Eltham were left submerged as Thames Water engineers battled for three hours to stop the leak.

Although Elibank Road had to be resurfaced on August 2 the water caused minimal damage, with most people enjoying the drama.

Sharon Carter, 46, says she was amazed to see the flooding of the road last Wednesday afternoon.

Saying it was like a scene out of a movie, the Westmount Road resident said: "The kids loved it. They were out there all day, paddling and making paper boats.

"One poor old woman was trying to cross the road but struggled because the water was up to her ankles."

The mother-of-two added: "It looked like a river. Then I thought it was like a mini New Orleans."

The source of the flooding was a burst water main at the corner of Elibank Road.

Thames Water received a call at 3pm and staff arrived to fix it within 30 minutes.

Greenwich police also attended and cordoned off Elibank Road while workers repaired the broken valve while trying not to cut people's water supply off.

It took Thames Water staff three hours before they managed to stop the leak, and another six hours to fix the burst pipe.

Elibank Road resident Len Faulkner, 67, said: "My wife came home saying she had been paddling through it.

"It was annoying to see so much water being wasted, especially when there is a hosepipe ban and a water shortage."

A Thames Water spokesman said: "We do apologise for any inconvenience caused but we managed to keep the water supply for our residents while repairing the leak. Which is why we took longer than usual."