CONCERNS have been raised that children’s lives are at risk due to flooding in a walkway in Oswaldtwistle.

Residents and councillors are calling for the drainage system to be improved in a tunnel that runs under Harvey Street.

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The tunnel is used by children, walkers and as a bridleway.

Cllr Peter Britcliffe, who represents Oswaldtwistle on the borough council, said he has been inundated with complaints about flooding in White Ash Brook Greenway which runs underneath Harvey Street and warns the water poses a risk to children who could ‘end up drowning’.

The route was damaged during severe weather last December and now floods every time it rains.

Cllr Britcliffe is calling on Lancashire County Council to clear the drain.

He said: “One of the problems is that it’s a bridleway, and it does worry me because a lot of children play in the area and the water can get fairly deep.

“I understand that Lancashire County Council have their own priorities but what I’m asking for is that Harvey Street should at least be part of the normal county maintenance.

“The road is reasonably well used and lots of people go walking around there.

“I believe that they could be facing serious danger walking on the route.

“I have written to the county council several times expressing my worries over Harvey Street, but no action has been taken yet.”

County Hall bosses said they have been forced to prioritise Lancashire’s most severely damaged bridges and roads after the floods.

Dave Hurford, bridges manager for the county council, said: “The floods which devastated many of our communities in December and January also resulted in extensive damage to the highway network and structural damage to many of our bridges in varying degrees.

“The county council is having to prioritise work on bridges that are the key, and sometimes only, link between communities and the wider road network.

“We have inspected this bridge and while the drain is blocked, the path is still passable with care.

“There is an alternative route on the public footway, albeit with a short detour.”