Zanussi Nexus FL 1082?

I was washing some clothing in my machine a few hours ago (Zanussi Nexus FL 10 82) and towards the back end of the final cycle, my sink actually flooded with water and overflowed all over my kitchen. The water was dirty and contained lumps of grey hard material in it which had not come from the clothing. It took me 2 hours to clean up the mess. The drum of the washer was also about a quarter full with water.
I then unscrewed the filter at the front of the washer and approx 2 large bowls of (dirty) water poured out and flooded the floor again.
After I cleaned up, I thought everything would be fine so set another wash going. Exactly the same thing happened again and my kitchen is ruined (as well as my washer I think).
I know that for quite some time now my washer (which is old) has been making some VERY loud rumbling noises when it sets off on a spin cycle so I knew that something was wrong but now I fear I may have to buy a new one which I cant afford to do right now.
Does anyone have any help / advice regarding what may be wrong here or has the inevitable happened and the machine has finally had it's day?
Many thanks in advance.

Gazza
April 2009