WORK has started on the construction of the Whalley Community Hydro.

Civil engineers started on the preliminaries yesterday in the Ribble Valley village after the project hit its fund-raising target last month.

Later this week track will be laid and the works compound will be set up.

A coffer dam will then be installed and a channel in the River Calder will be excavated which will take water from the river above the weir and put it back below the weir.

The power house, which will generate electricity from the River Calder, will use the movement of the river’s water to create electricity.

The power will then be fed into the National Grid and generate money for other local renewable energy projects.

The Archimedean screw is expected to be delivered in August and completion is expected in October, depending on the weather.