Tower block evacuated after flooding

The fire service were called to Mercia House at about 10:50 BST

A block of flats in Coventry was evacuated after a major flood in the building, with displaced residents moved to the city's Central Library.

Citizen Housing, which manages Mercia House in the city centre, said a leak in the sprinkler system was to blame, with four floors of the building directly affected.

West Midlands Fire Service said it was called to the 17-storey block at about 10:50 BST.

To address the issue, both water and power were turned off at the site, further affecting residents and prompting the evacuation, Citizen Housing confirmed.

Road closures were put in place on Corporation Street

A road closure was in place on Corporation Street as emergency services dealt with the incident.

West Midlands Police and National Grid were also in attendance at the scene, the fire service confirmed.

Kerri Pritchard said she was told to leave the building and wasn't sure when she could go back in

Kerri Pritchard, a resident who lives on the fifth floor, was one of those told to leave the building.

When she spoke to the BBC she was waiting to go back inside to collect her dog, Joe.

"I don't know when we'll be able to go back in, but there is support available from Citizen [Housing] and the council, so we will be looked after," she said.

Ms Pritchard described how she was at work when she got a text from her landlord to tell her there was a "major leak".

"I've been told there was a water leak in the sprinkler cupboard," she said.

"And the water filled up quite high in the cupboard and it's all flooded downstairs into several flats, affecting four floors."

Tiana Russell, who works at Putt Putt Social Coventry nearby, said she was told at lunchtime that their customers also had to be evacuated

The fire service said crews had worked to isolate supply and stem the flow of water.

Head of repairs at Citizen Housing David Polhill said: "Due to the escape of water, we have had to turn the water and power off for a period of time, which has resulted in the need for us to temporarily rehome residents as we fix the problem.

"We hope this will be resolved as soon as possible and we will continue to keep our customers fully updated."

'Very disruptive'

Tiana Russell, assistant manager at Putt Putt Social Coventry nearby, told the BBC they were informed of a leak at about 10:30 BST.

"Somebody came in and told us there was a burst pipe and that there was a leak," she said.

Ms Russell said they were told they had to evacuate all the customers from the premises about an hour later.

She said it had been "very disruptive" and the business was going to lose a lot as a result.

"So we had to get all the customers out... We evacuated the premises and got everybody out, issued them refunds, gave them gift vouchers," she explained.