A BURST water main created a fast flowing stream down a rural road on the edge of the borough close to Five Bells roundabout at its junction with the A13 and is running onto one of the eastbound slip roads.

An engineer from Essex and Suffolk Water is on scene attempting to shut the supply off from the burst which happened about 5am.

The flow of water has missed a row of houses on Bell Hill Road, which is just inside the Thurrock district boundary. Local water supplies are likely to be affected at some point.

Just after 1pm, a spokesperson from Essex & Suffolk Water said: "We were made aware of a burst on a water main in the Bells Hill area of Vange early this morning.

"We have a senior technician and a crew on site who have been able to locate the leak to one of our 15-inch water mains, the crew will remain in the area to complete the repair.

"We'd like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to those in the affected area and thank them for their patience and understanding while we work quickly to return things back to normal."