A FACEBOOK appeal to save a family home saw neighbours brave treacherous conditions to answer the call.

People came to the aid of Helen Lord, her husband Danny and two children after a social media plea was posted for help in shutting flood gates in Whalley.

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As Storm Angus battered the region on Monday night, people came out to help close the gates in Abbey Mews as water gushed through the village.

Mrs Lord, 30, said she asked for help on Facebook as the water was rising too quickly.

The owner of Lulu Browns Bridal Boutique managed to get the gates up with the help from friends and neighbours before the water could get into the home.

Mrs Lord, who has a 11-month-old son, Wilf, and a four-year-old son, Bertie, said the water was too fast to react to in time on her own.

She said: "The warnings came too late and the water had already got quite high.

"My eldest was in tears because he remembered the floods last year and thought it was going to happen again.

"It was horrible, I couldn't calm him down because I had to get the gates up with my husband.

"The gates are five foot tall and can take 25 minutes to set up in a normal situation, so in the dark and with incoming water it was very difficult.

"We were fortunate we got help, but there were people in the village who didn't.

"There needs to be plans in place for villages to be warned quickly."

Firefighters were called to Clitheroe Road in Barrow, after rainfall flooded a stretch of the road.

The crews assisted police by pumping water away from the road and cleared blocked drains.

Mount Carmel RC High School in Accrington was forced closed after being left with no power.

Headteacher Xavier Bowers said: "The electricity went off at 4pm on Monday and despite great efforts from engineers, we were not able to open the school yesterday.

"It appeared the power had gone off in the surrounding area.

"We also found a lot of water in the boiler room."

An Electricity North West spokesman said around 2,500 houses were without power for several hours in the region after trees and flooded areas delayed repair times.

A police spokesman said: "We had received a high number of calls about flooding in Whalley, police and the council were in the area closing main roads.

"We advised everyone to avoid the area unless absolutely necessary while the water subsided."