Ballymena Councillor Martin Clarke who said he had been inundated by calls from residents living in the area after the deluge, called on the Water Service to carry out an immediate investigation into why so many gardens where flooded and homes left under threat of flooding.

Police sealed off the area, as two fire rescue crews fought to pump the rising waters from the estate.

"As you know, we had about an hour of very heavy rain here on Friday evening. I received a lot of phone calls from people living in Wakehurst Park who said the water had burst through the man hole covers and left the whole area covered in water. There people really thought that their homes were going to be completely flooded as well", said Councillor Clarke.

"Some people told me that the filthy water had totally flooded their gardens, leaving a real mess. They were putting down sand bags and fearing the worst. I had heard that there were dead rats floating in the water as well, so you can imagine what that must have been like.

"This is not the first time that this has happened here, we have had several incidents in the last number of years where a number of back gardens where flooded after heavy rain, but the problem seems to be getting worse.

"I am calling on the Water Service to carry out an immediate investigation into why this has been happening.

"If it is the case that there needs to be bigger draining pipes put in place, then that is what should done. The people living in Wakehurst Park are now living in fear of more heavy rain."

It is understood that a number of homes in Tullymore Park in the Galgorm Road area suffered a similar fate, with their back gardens flooded on Friday evening - Cllr. Clarke said an investigation must also be carried out in this area .