A CHARITY shop in Blackburn was flooded causing thousands of pounds of damage.

Workers at the British Heart Foundation shop in Ainsworth Street, discovered the ceiling of the ground-floor shop almost completely collapsed when they opened up on Monday.

More than 600 items of clothing, worth about £2,500 were ruined and the walls and carpet were also damaged.

Assistant manager Delwin Hatton said the shop is likely to be closed until next week. She is appealing for people to donate stock to keep the shop open and says that the cause of the damage was a faulty washer in a toilet above the shop.

She said plumbers have assessed the toilet and said the washer, in the ballcock which regulates the level of water in the cistern, was not working.

Because of that water continued to flow and flooded the room below.

Delwin added: "The carpet is still wet and there is a lot of damage to sort through.

"We just want to make sure that we can open up the shop as soon as possible and to let customers know that we are doing our best to get back to normal as soon as possible.

"I would like to appeal to anyone who can help to donate any items to the shop because we have lost so much."

The store will re-open after the all-clear is given by electricians, which could happen as early as Monday.