WIRRAL’S rivers, roads and residents struggled to cope as flooding swept through parts of the borough this week.

Police were called to a children’s nursery in Brimstage after water levels outside became 3ft deep and tots were left stranded.

Staff at Jack and Jill Day Nursery called for help after they noticed the rising water levels and police ferried the children to Clatterbridge roundabout where they were reunited with their parents.

And in Frankby, a driver had to be rescued by firefighters after he broke down in flooding on China Farm Lane. The 30-year-old man was unharmed and was pushed to safety by firefighters at around 4.30pm on Monday.

Fire crews were also called into action when a garden became flooded in Garden Hey Road, Saughall Massie. Around six inches of water was diverted out of the garden to nearby drains.

Following the heavy downpours, the Environment Agency were forced to issue a flood warning to residents living near the Riveracre Brook in Great Sutton but lifted it after river levels began to drop.

A flood alert for parts of Heswall, Ellesmere Port, Bebington, Hoylake and Wallasey was also put in place due to possible problems with the rivers Birkett, Riveracre, Arrowbrook, Fender and Dibbinsdale.

And commuters also faced chaos as train services were suspended on the Chester and Ellesmere Port lines, while Hamilton Square was closed on Monday due to a power fault. Flood water also caused problems on Poulton Road, Spital, Clatterbridge Road, Clatterbridge and Brimstage Road, Clatterbridge and Neston Road, Thornton Hough.

The Environment Agency recorded a four-year high for the River Birkett at Davis Road, Moreton where levels reached 2.89m. A spokesman for the Met Office said around 40 to 50mm of rain fell on Merseyside on Monday – around two to three weeks of rain in one day. The spokesman said much of the rain fell in one 10-hour period and more downpours were expected .

There were 17 flood warnings and 37 flood alerts in place across the North West on Tuesday morning, the Environment Agency said.