AN investigation is underway after town councillors voted through an emergency grant to tackle potential flooding issues in an area of West Craven already hit twice by deluges in 12 months.

County councillor David Whipp, who represents the district on Lancashire County Council, called for the probe after Earby Town Council approved the 11th hour measure, amid frustration that gullies had not been cleaned in the town.

Flash floods prompted by torrential rain caused Earby Beck to overflow last September, putting around 40 properties at risk.

And a larger area of the town was left under water after the Boxing Day floods last December, which caused widescale problems across East Lancashire, with the likes of Padiham and Whalley also badly affected.

Speaking at a full council meeting Cllr Whipp said that the authority had introduced a system of 'intelligent gully cleansing' but this had not been evident in Earby.

He said: "Just this week I have been made aware that the town council in Earby has gone to the lengths of allocating £1,000 out of its own budget to cover this, because they cannot actually get the county council to attend to the gullies.

"There were around 100 homes and business affected by flooding last December and we had problems with flooding only last September. What has happened to this 'intelligent gully cleansing system'?"

Cllr John Fillis, cabinet member for highways and transportation, told councillors that a three-tier system was now in operation for gully cleaning.

Those ranked in the first tier could expect to see gullies cleaned every 12 months, those listed second would see them emptied every 18 months and there was also a third category, where gullies would be attended to when issues were raised by community representatives, the meeting heard.

Cllr Fillis said: "If however we go out, as part of the first sweep, and the drains can't quite be sucked out and they really need to be dug out then we need to bring in a specialist team."

He confirmed that county council engineers were liaising with Cllr Whipp over the Earby gullies before deciding on the right course of action.