CAMPAIGNERS fighting to stop a new school being built on a flood plain have criticised the county council for not consulting residents, an inquiry has heard.

The proposed site of the new Unity College on land off Towneley Holmes Road, in Burnley, is liable to flood once every five years and takes away an important green space from the community, opponents from Burnley Friends of the Earth and Fulledge Action Community Team (FACT) told the inquiry.

Lancashire County Council wants to build Unity College on the playing fields as part of the £250 million Building Schools for the Future scheme.

It has ruled out using the existing site of the former Towneley High School as it says it is too small and too close to people's homes.

Speaking on the fourth and final day of the inquiry into whether Lancashire County Council should be granted a compulsory purchase order for the land it needs for the school, Margaret Nelson, vice chair of FACT, said the county council had failed to consider alternative sites and that the present site should be redevloped to minimise disruption.

She said: "Lancashire County Council has gone against the wishes of Burnley people and Burnley Borough Council with this application and has not given sufficient consideration to alternative sites."

"33 per cent of people in Burnley do not have cars and access to open space and Towneley Park is important to them. The loss of amenity would affect the health and well being of many Burnley peope."

"LCC's own flood report states that the proposed site is liable to flood once every five years".

Avril Hesson, speaking for Friends of the Earth, said: "There has been little consultation with Burnley people."

"This is not a suitable site for Unity College because of the flood risk.

"It seems innappropriate after this summer, when some places received two months' rain in one day, to build anything on a flood plain."

"It is bad enough to get to the present school site. But the proposed site is deeper in the park. This site is not in the centre of the community and more people will want to use cars to reach it."

Lancashire county council say they have put adequate measures in place to minimise the flood risk to the school, including raising the school buildings above flood levels and creating a flood water storage area.

The inquiry inspector Jonathan King will also determine whether the authority should be given a special certificate to avoid special parliamentary procedure.

A report is expected in about eight weeks.