Rain bursts through Asda supermarket roof after 'freak' weather

Asda blamed 'freak weather conditions' for the downpour in their Perry Barr store

Video has emerged of rainwater bursting through the roof of an Asda supermarket.

Customers ran for cover as water cascaded through the roof of the store and into checkout aisles at the One Stop Shopping Centre in Perry Barr, Birmingham.

Shoppers try and escape the downpour (Raj Rattu)

40-year-old Raj Rattu, shopping at the time of the downpour, told ITV News how "it was absolute chaos" inside the supermarket.

"I was stranded in the electrical section and we couldn't move until the rain had stopped," Mr. Rattu said. "It was quite frightening with all the lights and electrical goods around."

Mr Rattu spoke of how the employees seemed more concerned with the store's wares than the sodden customers.

"The staff didn't have a clue what they were doing. They just seemed more interested in saving the stock than seeing to the customers."

"There was lots of pensioners getting soaked and all they could do was look after their produce."

"A lot of people were just stranded until the rain stopped and then they just told everybody to leave and slammed down the shutters."

In response to the incident, an Asda spokesperson said the store was reopened within 45 minutes.

"Due to the freak weather conditions there has been some flooding in our Perry Barr store," the spokesperson said. "Colleagues have worked extremely hard to clear this up and the store is now open and trading as normal."

"The store was closed for 45 minutes."