Huge 40ft jet of water erupts from street as water main bursts in Elephant and Castle

A massive 40-foot "geyser" erupted from the street by one of London's busiest junctions after a water main burst this morning.

A huge fountain of water about the height of three double-decker buses exploded from the road outside the Metropolitan Tabernacle baptist church at about 9.30am today, just off the Elephant and Castle roundabout.

Thames Water initially said it was caused by workmen on the site drilling through a 24-inch pipe, but later confirmed the contractors had actually removed the cap from a fire hydrant.

Witnesses said water was gushing high into the air for "a good 20 minutes" and police said the jet, in Newington Butts, brought major disruption to Elephant and Castle.

Photos taken from nearby office blocks showed the stream of water rising as high as the historic church building and dwarfing a double-decker bus.

A video taken by London SE1, a community news website covering the area, showed a workman looking up as the water towers over him.

A spokeswoman for Thames Water said: "It was actually a fire hydrant that caused the water to shoot into the air, not a burst water main.

"The third party contractors accidentally removed the cap from the hydrant but our engineer replaced it as soon as he arrived."

Witnesses said the fountain died down just before 10am, but water was still flowing for some time.