Toddler causes £5,000 worth of flood damage to parents' house after jamming toothpaste cap into plughole

But her delight turned to despair when he wedged the toothpaste lid in the plughole and turned the tap on whilst her back was turned.

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She returned home following a trip out to discover water dripping down the walls of her living room and a massive gaping hole in her kitchen ceiling.

"The sight that greeted me when I opened the front door was dreadful," she said yesterday. "I instantly ran upstairs and turned the tap off in the bathroom.

"I then plunged my hand into the sink and found the toothpaste cap stuck in the plughole. It suddenly dawned on me that Ben must have turned the tap back on.'

The drama unfolded three weeks ago when Kellyann, a 28-year-old housewife, was getting her two sons, Jadyn, four, and Ben, two, ready for the day.

She supervised the pair as they brushed their teeth before leaving Ben in the bathroom while she took Jadyn downstairs to get his coat for nursery.

While her back was turned, however, Ben picked up the plastic toothpaste cap, dropped it into the plughole and turned on the tap before making his way out.

Leaving Jadyn at nursery, Kellyann and Ben returned home to find the downstairs flooded.

Kellyann, from Hartlepool, said: "I helped Ben and Jaydn to brush their teeth but was in a rush to get Jaydn to nursery.

"I turned the taps off myself and turned away from Ben to put Jaydn's coat on.

"I shouted for him to hurry up and he followed me out the bathroom and we left the house. We were away for about an hour.

"When we came home I walked up to the front door and I could hear a strange noise. I stopped for a moment to listen and realised it was the sound of running water.

"It was awful. Water was running down the walls of the living room and kitchen ceiling had collapsed.

"When I went back downstairs after turning the tap off Ben was standing in the kitchen with water dripping down him. He said: 'Mammy, it's raining'."

,p>The damage to the house has been estimated at £4,500. The carpets in the living room and on the stairs are ruined as well as the lino flooring in the bathroom and kitchen.

The kitchen cupboards will also need replacing and the ceiling will have to be replastered.

"I don't blame Ben for what happened, he doesn't know any different," she said. "He's a water baby. He loves having baths and turning the taps on and off.

"We've now got driers and dehumidifiers everywhere. At times it is like being in a wind tunnel. But I'm sure he didn't mean to flood the house - at least I hope he didn't."

The hefty repair bill has, however, put Kellyann's plans for a £2000 dream wedding at Gretna Green on hold.

She and her fiance Mark Facchini, 28, an HGV mechanic, had planned to tie the knot in August this year but the wedding has now been postponed.

"It couldn't have come at a worse time," she added. "We have been engaged for ten years but every time we plan a wedding something happens.

"The first time we planned to get wed in the Dominican Republic but Mark's Gran became ill so we cancelled that plan.

"About eighteen months ago we started planning another wedding but that was put on hold when I became pregnant with Ben.