A burst water main caused flooding in Menstrie over the weekend.

The problem occurred on an inlet to a service reservoir in the Ochil Hills on Saturday (27 June) and water was washing debris, including earth and stones, down the hillside onto the village’s Ochil Road.

While Scottish Water engineers managed to maintain normal water supplies, about a dozen local residents were seriously affected by the flooding and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews as well as council staff were on site to help.

One of the residents, Carol Cowan, told the Advertiser: “No internal damage to the houses was done by the torrents of water cascading down the hill, but our garden, drive etc., took a hit, as did some others.

“But the damage was minimal - thanks largely to several householders, but mainly to the efforts of the fire brigade and Clackmannanshire Council employees. They were fantastic.

“I would like to say ‘Thank You’ from those of us affected.” Due to their efforts to maintain normal water supplies to thousands of properties in the local supply zone, Scottish Water employees were delayed in getting to Ochil Road.

A Scottish Water spokesperson told the Advertiser that the cause of the burst has not yet been established as their “priority was maintaining normal supplies”.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said that two appliances, one from Alloa and one from Tillicoultry, were sent to the scene.

Firefighters used spades and shovels to help divert the water away from affected properties, while Clackmannanshire Council’s incident officers liaised with partners, distributed 200 sandbags and helped local residents deal with the event.

Fire crews monitored the situation until Scottish Water isolated the supply valve and continued to work with partners shovelling water away.

After the flooding was dealt with staff from the council’s Roads Service worked to clear debris blocking the road to reopen it for residents.