HEAVY rain and flash floods added to rush hour misery for drivers yesterday.

Traffic on some roads around Worcester slowed to 10mph as heavy rain left three to five inch-deep puddles of water in places.

Both the A443 Great Witley Road and the A449 Kidderminster Road were affected, with traffic on the A449 dual carriageway down to one lane in places because of rain water.

A fuel spill on the A443 Grimley to Abberley Road at about 2pm yesterday added to the chaos.

Firefighters worked throughout the afternoon to make safe the section of the road near Holt Heath post office. Police also attended the scene.

A white Rover 216 careered into a ditch not far from the Holt Heath post office, but the driver was unhurt.

The spillage was reported by Holt Heath's post mistress, Sheila Badgery, after cars pulled into her car park thinking they had trouble with their brakes.

"A lady pulled into the car park because she thought her brakes had gone, then two or three other cars came up and started skidding. We realised it was on the road so we called the fire brigade," she said.

The Malvern Hills Highways Partnership Unit arrived at about 4.15pm with the gritter to sand the road and soak up the fuel. Warning signs were also put in place.

Police officers were still at the scene at 4.45pm yesterday.

The thunderstorms were caused by a depression south of Ireland.