Greater Manchester flooding: Clean-up begins

Central Salford suffered its worst flooding since 1946

A major clean-up has been taking place after floods devastated large parts of Greater Manchester on Saturday.

In Rochdale, dozens of town centre businesses were underwater by mid-morning, after the River Roch burst its banks, leaving debris and mud behind.

In Littleborough, about 100 properties and two care homes had to be evacuated.

Central Salford suffered its worst flooding for nearly 70 years as late afternoon rains saw homes evacuated in Kersal, Lower Broughton and Trinity.

Mountain rescue teams from Greater Manchester helped the emergency services in the evacuation.

"They did Salford people proud," said the city's mayor Ian Stewart.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service received more than 300 flood-related calls.

Some roads in the area are still flooded following the torrential rain.

Greg Cousins, who runs a hairdressers in Rochdale town centre, said: "I operate on three floors but my ground floor is just totally submerged.

"It was waist-to-shoulder height so I've not actually been able to gain access to see the extent of the damage."

Heavy rains left thousands of homes without power. Electricity has been restored to 15,765 properties in Rochdale with 4,535 still to get power restored.

In Bury, Electricity North West said it restored to 1,859 customers although 439 remain without power.

People are being urged to turn off their Christmas lights in Rochdale to prevent any further power cuts.

Mark Williamson, operations director for Electricity North West, said: "We are asking our customers in Rochdale to reduce their energy use to prevent further power outages while our engineers repair the damage.

"Simple things like turning off your Christmas lights or not using your washing machine or dishwasher for a while would make a huge difference."

Homes had to be evacuated in central Salford

The River Irwell caused flooding in several places along its banks in Greater Manchester