WITH heavy rain and flooding hitting the region this week, we've taken a look back at the Bradford floods of 1968.

The Telegraph & Argus reported: “On the morning of July 2, 1968 the heavens opened and Bradford was besieged by water, thanks to a violent thunderstorm that burst over the city. Lashed by a sweeping burst of hailstones, many the size of bullets, the cascading downpour turned Bradford into Venice.

“While shoppers gazed in amazement at the entrances to the markets which filled with dirty water, pedestrian underpasses at Leeds Road, Petergate, Eastbrook Well and Forster Square, flooded to their roofs.”

Forster Square resembled a swimming pool when the heavy storm left parts of the city centre flooded.

Shop assistants in the kiosks had to be rescued by passers-by, while some men took off their shoes and socks and rolled up their trousers to carry people across roads.

Shops and businesses across the city centre were hit hard by the flash flooding and it took a long time to tackle the damage to roads and properties.