AN UNEXPECTED freak storm brought chaos to East Lancashire with homes and businesses left waist deep in water.

Firefighters said they had been taken by surprise as the MET office and Environment Agency had not forecast the deluge which hit the area from 7am to 10am today.

In Blackburn town centre, Harrison Street was closed, while nearby Canterbury Street, Carling Hurst Road and Whalley Banks were also flooded.

The Brownhill Arms and homes around it in Whalley New Road were also affected, with Traffic being stopped.

Ribchester Road, Ribblesdale Road and Stoneyholme Gate in Wilpshire were closed for over an hour while water was pumped out of the roads by farmers and firefighters. Gary Monk, fire safety officer for Blackburn, said: "It was a freak storm which took us by surprise because the Environment Agency didn't have any information on the floods here.

"The Environment Agency and the MET had likened it to the problems in Boscastle, Devon, because it was so unexpected.

"We are limited in resources but trying to reassure people we are here to help."

In Brownhill, a small culvert overflowed and the drains could not cope.

Vehicles in the Brownhill Arms car park were left up to their wing mirrors in water and the cellar was also flooded.

The landlord, David Walsh, 39, said: "It wasn't a shock, I had been expecting it. I haven't done too bad really: I have been here two years and this is the first flood.

"It is only the carpets which are a problem."

Traffic started moving again on Whalley New Road at about 10am as fire crews managed to open manhole covers in the road.

But residents were still counting the cost.

Ada Nowell, 86, of Whalley New Road, next door to Brownhill Arms, said: "The water has gone right through every room through to the back.

"We will have to take the carpet up and throw them away.

"This is the second time I have been flooded.

"It isn't a nice job to have to keep buying new carpets and there is all the upheaval of it as well."

In Blackburn town centre, the River Blakewater overflowed, flooding business premises along Whalley Banks, Canterbury Street and Carlinghurst Road.

The forecourt of Travis Perkin Tradings Co, in Whalley Banks, was deep in water, preventing access to customers and delivery drivers.

Manager John Scott said: "We have had to sandbag all the doors, but we just about managed.

"We have £25,000 worth of timber inside, which could be ruined."

The new Drainage Centre shop, in Whalley Banks, was due to be officially opened next month, but today many rooms, including the bathroom showroom were flooded.

Site manager Joe Breen said: "I can't believe it this has happened."

Manager of Lidl in Whalley Banks, Andrew Daley, said: "I was worried the car park would flood because it looked like the walls were going to burst."

Firefighters were pumping out Clays Ltd building suppliers on Canterbury Street.

Manager Darren Bennings said: "Staff have had to go home to change clothes and help us. It is a real mess and stock could be ruined."

Meanwhile a Longridge school was closed for the day when flood water cascaded into the boiler room and kitchens.

Geoff Fitzpatrick, headteacher at Hillside Special School for autistic children, in Ribchester Road, said the school's 62 three to 16-year-olds were told to stay at home this morning.

Inspector Steve Howarth said: "On Ribchester Road the road was flooded rather than houses."

The weather was expected to clear up tonight, with just a few showers.