A FLOOD in the "haunted" part of a care home caused the ceiling to collapse early this morning.

Fire crews were called to the Walshaw Hall Care Home at 4.30am after receiving reports of flooding which was caused by a cracked pipe.

The flood in the older part of the Tottington care home in Bradshaw Road caused serious damage to the room but no residents were affected.

Bury Community Fire Station watch manager Steve Wilcock said: "It was coming through the ceiling and the ceiling came in. There was a massive amount of water damage right to the basement.

"At that time all the residents were in their bedrooms but the care home staff were quite panicked. It was lucky that they discovered this gushing water."

He said that some staff think the affected room is haunted, noting strange unexplained activities.

One member of staff told him that laundry was once found spread across the old room, appearing as though someone had thrown it around.

He added: "No one had actually been in there, but one of the chairs was moved to the centre of the room. They say it's the most haunted room."

Household floods caused by cracked pipes are quite common in the winter as water freezes and damages the pipes when it thaws.

However, he said that this building is usually warm so it is unlikely that the pipes would have frozen.

Mr Wilcock said that after fires, flooding is the worst thing that can happen to a building in terms of damage.

He said: "It's surprising how many people don't know where the stopcock is. If you ever do spring a leak, turn all the taps on in your house."