SHARP razor security wire left overhanging a former gas station yard in West Craven is posing a serious risk to schoolchildren, it has been claimed.

The former gas station yard in Skipton Road, Barnoldswick, has been earmarked for a new Aldi supermarket.

But the site is surrounded by security fencing - including razor wire which has been left unsecured and loose on the boundaries.

Borough council officials have been pursuing the site’s owners for around nine months over the issue.

Now Coun David Whipp and Coun Jenny Purcell have supported enforcement and a stern letter to Lancashire County Council chief executive Phil Halsall, calling for urgent action.

Coun Whipp said: “This is potentially very dangerous - it could blind someone.

“We need to know whether the county council is doing anything about it as they have known about it for a long time.”

Neil Watson, the borough’s planning manager, confirmed that letters ‘through the usual channels’ had failed to come up with a satisfactory response to the problem.

Coun Purcell added: “There are a number of children who could be hurt on this fencing — there is a school down there.”

Several compliance notices have already been served on the site owners, last August and December, without any success so far.

The overall untidy appearance of the site has been the subject of inspections by planning control officers for more than two-and-a-half years.