Cromer: Neighbours set up flood defence for empty home

Neighbours tried to build some flood defences to protect an empty house used as a second home

Neighbours have put up flood defences to protect an empty second home after water from a burst main started to leak into it.

Water started gushing down Mill Road in Cromer about 06:30 BST leaving homes without water or with low pressure.

Sharon Powles, who lives in the street, said neighbours "showed real community spirit" to try and protect the home.

Anglian Water is on site and said it hoped to fix the "complex issue" by 16:00.

A makeshift barrier was made by neighbours to keep traffic off the road which appeared to be damaged, said resident Sharon Powles

Residents also created a makeshift barricade to prevent traffic getting down the road amid concerns some of the tarmac appeared to be "going up and down".

Ms Powles said: "People have been out there stopping traffic for the safety of drivers and people out and about."

"About five houses down from me there's a second home so it's not occupied and there porch has flooded. Neighbours have tried to put sandbags in front of it but no-one can get in touch with the owner."

"There's been some real community spirit, especially when trying to stop the home getting damaged."

Some residents have been collecting water as it runs down the road for use in their gardens

After the heatwave earlier this week Ms Powles said her neighbours also "know how precious" a resource water can be and went out with buckets and watering cans to collect water flowing down the street.

"People didn't want to waste the water" and are planning to use it to water their gardens until the issue is fixed, she said.

A statement on the Anglian Water website apologised to customers and said the company was "working to repair a burst water main" but it was "proving to be a complex job".