Wallington flooding: Driver rescued from submerged car after passers-by throw bricks to smash window

Graham Price became trapped in his vehicle after being caught up in flash floods in Wallington amid torrential rain and thunderstorms this afternoon.

He was one of three people rescued from cars almost completely submerged in two-metre waters under the railway bridge in Manor Road between 2pm and 3pm.

Speaking to the Sutton Guardian after reaching dry land, Mr Price told of his alarm at the rapidly rising water that swallowed up his car and praised the group of teenagers that helped to rescue him.

He said: "I was behind the owner of the car in front and he stalled.

"The water wasn't that deep so I waited and what started off as an annoyance quickly turned quite frightening.

"I saw he got out of the car and the water was knee-deep and that's when I clocked what was happening.

"I rang the fire brigade and saw that the car the other driver had left had floated on top of mine.

"The water started to come in on one side and continued coming in quickly.

"I then told the fire brigade I had to go and I knocked on the window at some lads as the water came up past the chair.

"To be fair to the teenagers that saved me it took some nous to put a brick through the window to save me."

He added: "It would have been an unceremonious sight to see me swim out from my own car.

"If you saw it on TV you'd think, 'What bloody idiot would drive into that.'"

London Fire Brigade (LFB) said it received nearly 200 flood-related 999 calls this afternoon and treble the number of emergency callouts that it would typically get between 2.30pm and 3.30pm.

Firefighters rescued one person from their car in Manor Road after being called at 2.20pm.

The two other drivers were helped to safety before crews arrived.

The driver of the car in front of Mr Price's said he his car had stalled as he attempted to drive through the intially shallow water.

The man, who asked not to be named, said: "The water was not that deep when I went under and the car stalled and it got flooded.

"The rain came down really heavily and I couldn't get the car to start. It then got really deep and the drains were blocked.

"I was able to get out before the fire brigade came, but the driver of the Mercedes had to have his window smashed to get him out."

Workers were continuing to pump water from the road this evening.

Highways inspector Kevin Barnes attributed the flooding, which he was said was the worst in the road for years, to the "sheer amount" of rain rather than a drainage problem.

He said: "It's the worst flooding since the new soakaways were installed about four years ago.

"There are two on either side of the road that go about 60ft deep.

"It was the sheer amount of water that fell in such a short time that caused the flooding."

Fire crews were also called to reports of flash flooding in Acre Lane, St Paul’s Close and Peterborough Road, all in Carshalton, as well as reports of fires started by lightning strikes.

A LFB spokesman said: "Our 999 control officers have been extremely busy this afternoon taking calls to storm-related incidents across the capital.

"Firefighters are attending a number of incidents, mainly due to flooding."