CONSTRUCTION work on new flood defences near the Rossendale and Ramsbottom border will see a public footpath diverted.

County council engineers have issued a notice closing public footpaths number 113 and 114 in Stubbins for up to six months.

The pathways will be closed in part from the junction of Stubbin Vale Road, to Pin Meadow, and onwards to Bolton Road North.

The diversion will take walkers along Robert Street and the main road.

County secretary Ian Fisher said in a notice: “The closure is necessary because of the likelihood of danger to the public during the construction of a new defence embankment by the side of the River Irwell.”