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A flash flood from a burst water main swamped a key commuter route into London threatening homes and causing transport chaos.

Residents were on standby to leave as thousands of gallons of water turned a half-mile stretch of the A3 through Kennington, south London, into a "murky river."

Homeowners complained of "third world conditions" on the worst hit stretch of Clapham Road, between Stockwell and Oval underground stations, which was left under four inches of water for several hours from 8pm yesterday.

The road was covered in a layer of brown sludge this morning as workmen began repairs.

Transport for London today said there were serious delays in the area as the road remains closed between Oval and Stockwell.

Townhouses and shops lining the street were barricaded with sandbags to prevent basements from flooding. Police at the scene said some residents warned to evacuate had remained in their homes fearing looters.

Fire crews from Lambeth and Brixton used baffle boards and water pumps to direct the torrent away from houses and businesses lining the street, one of the main routes into central London from the south-west.

Buses and cars were put on diversion through the night as engineers warned the underground pipe would take several days to repair. The weight of floodwater is said to have caused the road surface to collapse.

In pictures: Clapham Road flooding 15 show all In pictures: Clapham Road flooding 1/15 Damage A workman peers into the hole on Clapham Road Picture: Jeremy Selwyn 2/15 Leak A torrent of water in Clapham Road. Picture: Jeremy Selwyn 3/15 Flooded Firefighters at the scene last night Picture: Nigel Howard 4/15 Flooded Torrents of water flooded the street Picture: Nigel Howard 5/15 Flooded Arthur Fitzpatrick: It's disturbing the people around here Picture: Nigel Howard 6/15 Flooded The water creeps towards a petrol station Picture: Nigel Howard 7/15 Flooded A row of houses swamped by floods Picture: Nigel Howard The scenes in Clapham Road after a burst water main caused flooding. A pedestrian is helped by Fireman. PICTURE BY: NIGEL HOWARD Email: Nigelhowardmedia@gmail.com 8/15 Flooded Firefighters help a resident into her home Picture: Nigel Howard 9/15 Flooded The source of the flooding in Clapham Road (Picture: @FabT83) 10/15 Flooded Police at the scene in south London (Picture: @LucyBlackSq) 11/15 Flooded Clapham Road (Picture: @HelenMarie21) 12/15 Flooded Firefighters at the scene in Clapham Road (Picture: @MarcusWA) 13/15 Flooded The flooding closed Clapham Road (Picture: @HelenMarie21) 14/15 Flooded 15/15 Flooded The cause of the flood (Picture: @TfLTrafficNews) 1/15 Damage A workman peers into the hole on Clapham Road Picture: Jeremy Selwyn 2/15 Leak A torrent of water in Clapham Road. Picture: Jeremy Selwyn 3/15 Flooded Firefighters at the scene last night Picture: Nigel Howard 4/15 Flooded Torrents of water flooded the street Picture: Nigel Howard 5/15 Flooded Arthur Fitzpatrick: It's disturbing the people around here Picture: Nigel Howard 6/15 Flooded The water creeps towards a petrol station Picture: Nigel Howard 7/15 Flooded A row of houses swamped by floods Picture: Nigel Howard The scenes in Clapham Road after a burst water main caused flooding. A pedestrian is helped by Fireman. PICTURE BY: NIGEL HOWARD Email: Nigelhowardmedia@gmail.com 8/15 Flooded Firefighters help a resident into her home Picture: Nigel Howard 9/15 Flooded The source of the flooding in Clapham Road (Picture: @FabT83) 10/15 Flooded Police at the scene in south London (Picture: @LucyBlackSq) 11/15 Flooded Clapham Road (Picture: @HelenMarie21) 12/15 Flooded Firefighters at the scene in Clapham Road (Picture: @MarcusWA) 13/15 Flooded The flooding closed Clapham Road (Picture: @HelenMarie21) 14/15 Flooded 15/15 Flooded The cause of the flood (Picture: @TfLTrafficNews)

Joe Marenghi, 61, said: "It just looked like the River Nile. It's amazing that a little leak can cause this much damage. I was working and a neighbour rang to say that his house was flooded and that he just managed to move his car. When I saw it, I thought, oh my god. It’s just horrendous."

Harry Nicola, 39, said: "It was just chaos. The water looked rather dirty – anything could be in it."

Karl Williams, 29, web developer, said: "It's not what I expected to come home to. Almost every house round here has some kind of basement. I saw loads of police and the fire engines and just I had no idea what was going on. It's a lot of work for a lot of people and some insurance companies as well I expect."

Arthur Fitzpatrick, 25, a private chef from Albert Road, said: "I think the police have over reacted a bit, it’s only half a foot of water but it’s obviously disturbing the people who live around here."

Martin Hart, 53, a site manager from Chelmsford staying at the Belgrave Hotel, was told he could not go back inside to collect his luggage.

He said: "I went out with some friends for a birthday dinner and thought it would be easier to stay here rather than going home. All my luggage is in there and I'll have to come back for it on Monday. It's terrible for people who live in these houses."

Jenny Wesly, 65, visiting from Holland, said: "We thought war had broken out. We put plastic bags over our shoes so we could get to the hotel because we have a flight home tomorrow. Thankfully Holland is the country of water, so we should be fine."

Emily Walker, 22, who works at the Royal Court Theatre, said: "I've never seen anything like it – the street has turned into a river. Earlier everyone came out of the restaurant to move their cars before it was too late."

Nigel Rust, 56, a business advisor, said: "I live in the basement so I've been watching the water levels. Earlier it was like two streams and now it’s turned into a river. The next door neighbours were given sandbags which made them feel a bit better about it. All of the people who live in the basements are very concerned – it's very worrying. I just cannot believe how quickly our road became a river."

Laura Urquhart, 25, a PR manager from Clapham Road near Oval, said: "It was just disgusting. Horrible, grey murky water and just came all of a sudden.

"Firemen put sandbags in front of our garden to stop it getting to the front door and the basement."

Angela Reynolds, 58, said: "The road was made into a river. The water just flooded the road in 10 minutes. It was quite incredible."

Thames Water engineers worked through the night on the 30 inch water main which burst near the junction at Clapham Road and Claylands Road.

Fentiman Road, Palfrey Place, Trigan Road, South Island Place and Handforth Road were also under water.

A spokeswoman for Thames Water today sought to dispel rumours circulating on social media that the water had come from a broken sewer.

She said: "Last night a pipe carrying clean drinking water burst, leading to flooding on Clapham Road.

"The burst caused soil under the road to move and this is what makes the water look brown. It is not sewage.

"Our engineers have been working through the night and will continue to focus all efforts on getting the area back to normal. We're really sorry to those affected by the burst."

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: "Thames Water are on the scene and people were being advised to avoid the area.

"As well as pumping away water, crews positioned sandbags as a precaution to protect properties vulnerable to the flood water."

A Transport for London spokesman said part of Clapham Road was closed but the nearby Tube stations were not affected.