By Dave Lord

STUNNED SHOPPERS watched in horror as water began to fill a Perth shopping centre amid terrifying storms yesterday.

Torrential rain accompanied dramatic thunder and lightning as local streets began to resemble tributaries of the River Tay.

And those taking shelter in the St John’s Shopping Centre were in for a shock as rainwater began to fill the mall. The centre eventually closed for an hour as attendants battled the rising tide.

One shopper said it looked as if the water was coming up through the floor.

“I have never seen anything like it. A big crowd of people just stood and stared,” she said.

“The rain outside was absolutely thumping down—it was incredibly hard. Obviously most people tried to take shelter in the shopping centre so it was a real shock when pools of water began to appear indoors.”

The shopper said attendants quickly moved in with mops and buckets—but appeared to be fighting a losing battle.

“Workers were trying to stem the tide but the water was coming up really fast,” she said.

“People kept having to move further and further back as the water just kept on flowing.

“Eventually, I think they had no option but to close.”

Shoppers at a nearby Tesco supermarket on South Street also found it hard to escape the deluge, with strategically-placed buckets catching drips that were coming through the ceiling.

St John’s Centre manager Siobhan McConnell said, “There was a flash flood within the centre and we had to close for around one hour.

“It would seem a main drain had blown on the site during the torrential rain and it is some-thing we will be discussing with Perth and Kinross Council.

“As far as I can remember we have never had to shut down the centre for any reason in the past but we felt it was something we had to do for health and safety reasons.

“Luckily we have a team of dedicated attendants and they dealt with the problem very quickly.”

The sudden downpour and stormy conditions made driving in and around Perth hazardous throughout the afternoon, but no accidents were reported.