A house was partially flooded last night causing damage to carpets, furniture and a television.

A man had returned to his terraced house on May Street, Golborne, after being away and had turned on the stop tap to the main water supply at around 7.30 pm.

But the tap came off in his hand and water gushed out of the pipe.

He tried to stem the flow of water by putting his finger in the leak until Leigh firefighters arrived.

A fire service spokesman said they stopped the water spray by first of all squashing the pipe and then clogging the leak with a 10 pence piece.

The spokesman added that they advised the gentleman to contact the water authority and a plumber.

He said: "There was quite a lot of damage. Water was in the lounge and had gone into the kitchen. The carpet was damaged and the pressure of the water meant it had sprayed onto the furniture and the TV."