TORRENTIAL rain caused chaos for residents and traders in Pendle yesterday.

At Asda in Colne, staff evacuated shoppers and shut the store after flooding caused a small part of the roof to collapse about 5pm.

Motorists also had to be diverted away from junction 12 of the M65, Colne Road and Churchill Way in Brierfield after several lanes of traffic became too water-logged for vehicles to travel along.

At the Corporation Street supermarket, the intensity of the rainfall and sheer weight of the water created leaks, eventually leading the roof to give in.

For the second year, heavy rains have lead to numerous aisles of the store to flood.

Three lanes were flooded near the freezer area of the supermarket, and there was 2cm of water on the floor around the front entrance.

A spokesman for Asda said: “We got the store open again within an hour of having to close it.

“There has been no major structural damage to the building.

“Part of the roof collapsed, causing the leak. But there were no gaping holes in the ceiling. This isn’t an unusual occurrence, these things often happen when there’s heavy rain.

“We’re working hard to fix the problem.”

Mark Coleman, general store manager at the branch, said: “We knew the heatwave was going to end at some point but our Colne store got a bit of a surprise when the roof sprung a leak.

“Customers needn’t worry about bringing their wellies or arm bands, we got the store back up and running in just over an hour.”

On July 11 last year, flooding was so bad the store remained closed for more than 12 hours after becoming too wet to keep open at 8.30pm.

Customers at the store used camera phones to record the heavy rain running into the building through the light fittings while customers are served by shop assistants at the supermarket.