Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service dealt with 70 calls to flooding and burst pipes over the Christmas period.

Now officers are appealing to people to only call if it is a genuine emergency.

Wes Shutt, manager of Shrewsbury fire station, said there had been a large number of incidents involving flooding to domestic and commercial properties following the recent cold spell and rapid thaw.

But he said despite the high volume of calls, between December 19 and yesterday, there was actually not much the fire service could do about burst pipes and homeowners would be better off calling a plumber.

“There is very little that we as an organisation can do in these circumstances other than to isolate the water and isolate the electricity supply if it is being affected by water,” he said.

“We will endeavour to mitigate the damage caused where possible but these services may be subject to a charge.”

He said in general the message was ‘don’t call unless it’s an emergency’.

He added if residents were the victims of flooding from burst pipes they should, where possible, turn off their water supply and their electricity supply if the water is affecting it.

He said they should then contact a plumber if the supply cannot be isolated and if the pipes need to be repaired.

“Following any work carried out by the fire and rescue service or a local contractor people should contact their home insurance company who can help with advice on damage limitation and repairs or reimbursement of costs,” he said.

The warning comes just days after a woman driver was told she could face a bill of more than £255 after calling out emergency services — because she could not get her car up an icy hill in Ironbridge.

The driver, who has not been named, raised the alarm by reporting she was trapped on a hill near the Maws Craft Centre in Jackfield on Wednesday.

Crew manager Nick Davis, of Tweedale Fire Station, said fire chiefs will decide whether the incident amounted to a “special service call”, for which the woman could be charged £255.86.