WORK starts today on two schemes worth more than £36,000 to protect a road from being repeatedly hit by floods.

The cash will be used to carry out resurfacing and repairs to drains and gullies in Skipton New Road, Foulridge, in the coming weeks.

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Flooding on the road has caused major problems in recent years causing several emergency closures.

The work includes repairing of gullies under the road, as well as installing the new trash screens to prevent blockages.

It will be carried out by Lancashire County Council from its highways budget and a £5million grant it received following the December 2015 floods.

The scheme began this morning and will be undertaken during off peak hours only.

A council spokesman said: “From February 20 to March 13 we will be carrying out some work to repair road drains and patch damaged areas financed from our highways maintenance budget.

“We will then return in the summer to surface dress the road with a thin layer of tar and chippings to seal the repairs together, prevent water getting in and increase the lifespan of the surface.

“A separate piece of work is due to be carried out in March/April to fit a trash screen to the gully, which has been identified as a ‘flood prevention’ scheme costing £36,000 from the £5million Lancashire received following the December 2015 floods to improve and repair highways infrastructure, making it more resilient to future floods.”

County Cllr Paul White, who represents Pendle East, said: “Flooding on this road has been a nightmare for people who use this road, so I’m delighted.

“I’ve been pushing the county council for months to crack on with the work, so I’m glad that they finally are.

“There might be some delays during the roadworks but hopefully it’s short term pain for long term gain”.

Cllr Jennifer Purcell, who represents Barnoldswick, said “The flooding on this road has had a knock on impact for people living anywhere at the other side of it towards West Craven.

“There were huge delays and sometimes the road was closed causing huge delays and massive backlogs on back roads.

“It’s great news that this is being tackled once and for all.”

Pendle Council leader Cllr Mohammed Iqbal said: “I know local county councillors, including West Craven Liberal Democratt David Whipp have been pressing for this.”

He added: “This road has been repeatedly hit by flooding.

“With two reservoirs near the village proper flood protection for Foulridge is very important.”