Darwen faces road closures after floods (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Darwen faces road closures after floods

3:43pm Saturday 30th June 2012 in Darwen

BUSY roads in Darwen could be closed for several weeks after flash floods which surprised the town on Thursday night.

Businesses in the town were only just getting over the devastation of floods that occurred after the River Darwen burst its banks last Friday.

But a torrential downpour on Thursday saw roads once again turned into rivers, while homes and businesses fought against the incoming torrents.

A section of Railway Road, near the railway bridge, and part of Atlas Road, were closed by police after a manhole sunk, leaving a huge hole in the road surface.

Jim Walker from the Environment Agency said: “We are talking to the people affected by the recent flooding in Darwen to help explain why it happened and what the options are for the future.

“The North West region recently experienced exceptional amounts of rain, leading to extensive flooding which saw some of the same properties affected by surface water flooding on Thursday and the bad weather last Friday.

“The initial flooding was caused by a bockage in a culvert, where the River Darwen runs in a tunnel for more than 500m.

“On Thursday, the further short and sharp heavy showers which hit led to surface water flooding in Blackburn Road where some properties were affected.”

Darwen MP Jake Berry said: “I have spoken to the Environment Agency who told me that some of the remedial work, like cleaning out the gullies, had been completed after the first flood, but some was still to be done.

“I will be meeting with the agency again next week to get a full report on the cause of the flood and what can be done to prevent them.

“Some homes have been flooded twice in four days which is not acceptable.

“We must look to work with the Environment Agency and the council to protect the people of Darwen from future floods.”