THE Oak Mall shopping centre took in water during last night's torrential downpour and it will not open on time today.

The entrance at the foot of Crown Street is closed after water swept down towards the gates during the night, as Inverclyde was hit by a heavy thunderstorm around 2am.

It's left a coating of silt in the underpass leading to the shops. It's not yet known if any other section of the mall was affected.

But a statement from the shopping centre said: "Due to unforeseen circumstances overnight the Oak Mall will have a delayed opening today, Wednesday 3rd August.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers and we will update our Facebook page during the day."