Water supplies will be restored to homes and business in the Brent Cross area from early this afternoon, according to Thames Water.

A burst main caused extensive flooding of the North Circular Road under the Brent Cross Flyover and brought traffic to a standstill this morning.

The road remains closed and homes and businesses as far away as Hendon have been left without water.

Thames Water representative Craig Rance said water was being redirected around the network and supplies should begin returning to normal.

Barnet Council says approximately 7,000 homes have been left without water.

Engineers have cut off the flow to the broken pipe but several feet of standing water is delaying repair work.

Thames Water said it hoped to open at least one lane of the eastbound carriage at some point today but the westbound lanes are expected to remain shut into tomorrow.

A representative said in a statement: "We are dealing with a burst on a 24-inch pipe which has flooded the Hendon Underpass on the North Circular in Brent Cross. Our engineers have been on site since first thing this morning trying to drain away the water so they can get the repair done.

"The road is currently closed both ways but we are hoping to open at least part of the east-bound carriageway later today. The damage to the west-bound carriageway is more severe and will take a few days to repair completely - but we are trying to get at least one lane open at some point tomorrow.

"We've had calls from around 1,300 customers this morning saying they are without water but we hope all supplies will be back on soon.

"We are really sorry for the disruption this is causing. We are working as hard as we can to get things back to normal."