Gail Pask, the manager of the Rifle Butt in Harlestone Road, Northampton, woke up yesterday to find the pub under water after a nearby main burst, sending torrents into the streets, nearby gardens and her cellar.

Thousands of bottles and 17 barrels of beer, delivered the previous evening, were destroyed. The damage has prompted fears the sale of the pub could be put in jeopardy.

Mrs Pask said: "The water went up as high as me and it spread into the carpet upstairs and the beer garden.

"We had just had the cellar painted and a new water system installed at great cost. It's all destroyed now.

"The pub was supposed to be sold in the next few weeks and I don't know if it will go ahead now. We are just getting things sorted and then we will sit down and see what's next."

The pipe burst just outside the pub at about 4.45am. A CET Glass Processor lorry was then trapped in a crater left by the damaged main.

Mrs Pask said: "There was water all over the road and cars were driving over it because they just thought it was fine. The road looked OK, but then I heard this big crash.

"At first, I thought the lorry had driven into a bollard. Then I could see this big hole in the road and the lorry had fallen in."

Flooding ravaged neighbouring gardens and left hundreds without water. Most had water by 7.45am.

An Anglian Water spokesman, who said 12m of cast iron cable had to be replaced, apologised for the problem.

He added: "After a warm period followed by a colder snap, the earth and rocks can move around a bit which is what probably caused this burst."