A burst water main flooded businesses and shut roads as firefighters attempted to stem the water flow with sandbags.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) was called to Wealdstone High Street at 6.26am this morning (June 7) after a 24-inch main burst, leaving homes across the area without water.

Flooding up to a depth of 30cm was reported between Locket Road and Masons Avenue.

The LFB said that ten shops were affected by flood water.

Harrow Times spoke to one business near Gordon Road, Mansi’s Salon, which said despite water damage to its carpet, it had reopened to customers at around 11.15am.

An employee said: "At the front of the shop, the carpet and everything [is damp]. 

"The roads are still closed so I don't know if the clients are even going to come."

LFB station commander Chris Swallow confirmed that road closures were in place between Ellen Webb Drive and College Avenue while firefighters worked at the scene.

They urged people to “avoid the area where possible”.

Another business, Wenzel's the Bakers at 60 High Street, told Harrow Times that their section of the road was open for pedestrians.

The supervisor said: "We had a flood at 6am but now it's finished. It's fine, people can come.

"There's no water on the High Street at all but the road is still closed for cars and buses, only people can come."

Earlier this morning, fire crews used sandbags to prevent further damage to shops and divert flood water, leaving the scene at 10.45am.

Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters from Harrow, Stanmore and Northolt stations dealt with the flooding.

Meanwhile, local residents reported water outages throughout the morning as a result of the burst main.

One Twitter user tagged Affinity Water and said: "@AffinityWater is there a problem in HA3? We have no water this morning."

The water provider confirmed that there was no water in Harrow, Harrow Weald, North Harrow, Kenton, Wealdstone, Hatch End, and Stanmore and Belmont.

Affinity Water apologised for the lack of water and said that its technician had assessed the burst pipe. A repair team is currently onsite trying to fix the problem.

The water provider later said that due to the difficult nature of the repairs, the High Street is likely to be shut to road traffic for 'a few days'. 

Affinity Water added that it was working to bring water in from other areas to restore supplies, but that some customers may continue to experience low pressure. 

While repair work is carried out, customers are asked to avoid using their washing machine, dishwasher and any electrical appliances that use water.

The company added that it was also assessing a second burst water main in Bishop Ken Road.