A town centre road in Dudley was closed today after a water main burst.

Highways chiefs warned Wolverhampton Street, which joins the junction of High Street, Union Street and Stone Street, could be closed for “several days”.

A 200-yard section of Wolverhampton Street had been coned off after the road flooded “like a river”.

Businesses could be without water for the rest of today but bosses at South Staffs Water said they were confident repairs to the main would be complete by tomorrow.

Workers from the company were on site during the busy morning rush hour to begin the task of repairing the damaged pipe.

Pub manager Tracey Heath, who runs The Shrewsbury Arms in Wolverhampton Street, says water was running down the road when she arrived to open up at 5am.

“The engineers were already blocking the road as I got down here. I was worried because I thought the water might be flooding the cellar,” she said. Shop worker Jean Miller, aged 46, said: “It was like a river down here this morning.

“I thought it might just have been the rain but then I saw all the workers down here and the road coned off.”

Dudley Council highways boss Peter Van Geersdale said: “The road was closed in the early hours of this morning when the water main burst.

“The road will remain closed until the repairs to the water main have been carried out and also any necessary repairs to the road itself have been completed.

“This could take several days.”