A MAJOR landslide at a Darwen beauty spot has seen hundreds of tons of trees and earth collapse into a stream, sparking safety fears.

The landslide occurred in Sunnyhurst Woods near Earnsdale Reservoir and the friends group has said that an indoor reservoir that holds three million litres of water has been undercut.

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There is now a danger of the structure failing which could result in a serious incident in the bottom of the woods and the nearby road.

There are also fears that a huge dam, which has built up due to the amount of earth that has shifted, could burst.

Path closures have been put in place until further notice.

United Utilities’ structural engineering team is currently investigating how the landslide occurred.

Residents have been asked by Blackburn with Darwen Council to avoid the area until further notice.

Brenda Cronshaw, vice chairman of the Friends of Sunnyhurst Woods, said: “This is heartbreaking, we have just emptied the pond of silt ready for the children who have six weeks off and now this happens.

“Just when everything was starting to fall into place it all goes wrong. There are so many dog walkers and kids off school that this will affect.”

The council is now in consultation with United Utilities to try to work out the immediate way forward for the infrastructure of both the reservoir and the woods.

Borough and town councillor Dave Smith said that there are some buildings around the area that could be in real danger following the landslide.

He said: “There are some treatment works buildings that could be in danger of collapsing and that obviously is very serious if it comes to that.

“The area is very unsafe at the moment so we are urging residents to stay clear.

“This place has seen a lot of trouble following the floods but we hope to have this sorted out as soon as possible.”

A spokesman for United Utilities said: “We are asking the public to keep away from the bottom end of that wooded area.

“We have been on site carrying out an engineering inspection to establish what the cause of this slip was and how quickly it can be fixed The area will remain closed until further notice.”