West Midlands braces as flooding enters third day

Flooding misery in the West Midlands has entered its third day, with one high street under water as a new wave of flood warnings are issued for the region.

There were fresh storms on Thursday evening, just hours after it was confirmed that 55 properties had flooded in Birmingham, with other issues since Wednesday including evacuations of pubs, a closed theme park, and a business that "lost everything".

In the latest incident, in Wolverhampton, flooding on Church Street, Bilston - linked to a burst main - saw the street submerged and the nearby indoor market also take on water.

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency (EA) has issued two flood warnings - covering parts of Staffordshire and Warwickshire - and many more alerts.

Police in Bilston before 09:00 BST cordoned off Church Street as workers from Severn Trent Water attended.

It was not immediately clear whether recent heavy rain had contributed to the issue there.

Severn Trent said it was working to isolate the burst main and divert water to allow people living in flats above the scene to get in and out of their homes.

Some traders at one end of the street have since been able to open their premises.

At the indoor market, supervisor Ken Bennett told the BBC it was immediately apparent on opening the main shutters that the site had flooded.

He said that while traders would not be happy if they could not open their units, there was a risk of allowing water into their businesses if individual shutters were rolled up.

However, it was confirmed after 09:00 BST that the site was fully operational.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms first hit the West Midlands on Wednesday.

By the following day in Birmingham, some homes had taken on water up to a depth of three feet (one metre).

Fire crews attended the situation across several streets in the Perry Barr area of the city, while to the north, in the Burntwood area of Staffordshire, roads were under water.

There was rail disruption in the region on Thursday evening amid more wet weather.

Two flood warnings issued for the region on Thursday evening remained in place on Friday.

One covers Smestow Brook at Hinksford, Staffordshire, where flooding could affect properties and roads, and the other is for Tanyard Stream in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, where rising water levels are expected to cause flooding around Clarendon Road.

There are also multiple lower-level flood alerts in the region covering areas including Birmingham, the Black Country, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

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