Road under water from burst main

Cars were affected by the flooding

A road has flooded due to a burst water main in the West Midlands.

Parts of Vincent Drive, in Edgbaston, Birmingham, where the National Blood Centre is located, is under as much as 3ft (90cm) of water.

Fire crews have been working to keep the blood centre, which has flooding in its basement, open.

They have also been pumping water away from a railway embankment at the back of the road to keep the rail line open. The flood was described as "severe".

Pumping water

The road, which is not residential, is closed between the junction with Pritchatts Road and the medical centre.

Fifteen firefighters were pumping water away from the area.

A fire service spokesman said the water was deeper at the back of the blood service building - up to 8ft (2.4m) in places.

A blood service spokeswoman said the Edgbaston Road site held a blood bank which supplied hospitals in Birmingham and the surrounding area, but it had not been affected by the floods.

"It is the underground car park which is mainly affected," she said.

A spokeswoman for Severn Trent Water said the pipe burst shortly after 0700 GMT.

She said no-one had lost their water supply as a result but had no estimated time as to how long the repairs would take.