Northamptonshire fire crews called to 27 flooding incidents

The fire service said the hot weather had made it difficult for the ground to absorb water

A fire service was called to 27 incidents of flooding within four hours on Tuesday.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said the "vast majority" of flooding took place in Northampton and Kettering from 20:00 BST.

Crews dug a ditch to divert running water away from one house and had to remove water from other properties.

Group manager Ro Cutler said recent hot weather made it "very difficult" for the ground to absorb water.

"There was always a possibility of flash flooding when heavy rainfall was forecast and it's something we have been well prepared for," he said.

The fire service was called to Avondale Road in Kettering

The service said 13 incidents were reported in Kettering between 21:00 and midnight and there were also incidents in Corby, Raunds, Upton, Delapre and Northampton.

Russell Peace, who lives on Avondale Road in Kettering, said the flooding was "a scary sight".

"One of the neighbours called the fire service and I went to check on my neighbours," he said.

"One of them had their carpets ruined."

"Our control team had to deal with a lot of calls in a short amount of time last night so we'd like to thank them for their hard work, as well as that done by our firefighters and officers - whether it was offering advice, inspecting drains or pumping water out of properties," Mr Cutler said.