Homes flooded and residents evacuated after quarry 'incident'

Residents of a village on the outskirts of Cardiff have been evacuated after a flood on Thursday afternoon.

Roads have been shut in Gwaelod-y-Garth, with reports of water up to 5ft (1.5m) deep in some homes.

Emergency services are at the scene and people have been advised to avoid the area.

The Breedon Group confirmed there had been an "incident in its quarry".

"Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities while engaging with the local community as we respond to the situation," the company said.

Earlier, water company Dwr Cymru confirmed the incident was not related to its pipe network.

Laura Fergusson, a Gwaelod-y-Garth resident, said there was "an explosion" a couple of minutes before the water arrived through the village.

She said the "whole house shook" and it felt "like a mini earthquake".

Residents said they heard a loud blast from the direction of Taff's Well at about 12:30 BST, and then "huge amounts of water" started rushing down the hillside.

One family who live in the affected area said they were turned back at a police cordon and do not know how badly affected their home may be.

Steven Mordecai, another resident from the area, said he was "shocked" to see a "wall of water" when he went to the back of his garden.

Mordecai said the brown water reached up to his waist, before the force of the flooding pushed him back.

"I grabbed hold of my gate and I was floating. It was so forceful it was unreal," he said.

Pictures from social media show gardens inundated with deep brown water with a football club also flooded as well as local roads.

Those at the scene have told BBC Wales that the water is no longer flowing down the main road from the direction of Pentyrch, but a lot of dirty brown water remains.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said crews and appliances from Whitchurch, Pontypridd, Ely, Roath, Caerphilly and Penarth are at the scene.