OWNERS battled to save their homes after a brook burst its banks and water came pouring through their doors.

After hours of heavy rain owners at bungalows in Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port were fighting to save their homes bailing out water well into the night.

At just before 9.30pm last night (Thursday, December 20) emergency services were called the bungalows on Grange Bungalows to help quell the flood water.

The banks of a small brook outside Capenhurst Grange Special School on Chester Road became overwhelmed by flood water, causing water to stream into nearby homes causing extensive damage.

Crews from Ellesmere Port fire station, the Environmental Protection unit and Environment Agency spent three hours at the scene helping the owners bail the rising waters from their homes with buckets.

Watch manager Phil Barney said the owners had put sandbags around the house but the water had saturated neighbouring fields and needed pumping out.

“We were there for a couple of hours trying to protect the houses from the water which was streaming in,” said firefighter Barney.

Firefighters attempted to protect another neighbouring house, which was unoccupied, but it is thought the waters could have caused substantial damage to the ground floor.

The eight firefighters created a dam around the properties in an attempt to restrict the flow of the water, which was said to have been receding by the time they left at just after midnight.

Firefighter Barney said: “I would warn anyone living close to a brook or stream to be alert to the dangers of flood as the heavy rain continues. Please protect your property with sandbags.”