OLD Christmas trees could be helping to shore up East Lancashire’s waterways if a recycling scheme proves successful.

An appeal has been issued by the Ribble Rivers Trust (RRT) in Clitheroe for leftover firs and spruces to support their conservation work in 2019.

Brash created from the festive fodder can be reused to bolster the banks of rivers and brooks, according to the trust, which looks after the Ribble and major tributaries such as the Brun and Calder.

A RRT spokesman said: “We will use the old Christmas trees to help prevent erosion of river banks in a technique called brash bundling. Brash bundles are made from brash which has been tied together with strong wire. Posts are driven into the river bed and the brash bundles are then secured to these posts with more wire.

“Brash bundles work by dissipating the energy of the river, which reduces the impact of the water and its ability to erode the river bank.

“This allows the bank to recover and naturally vegetate, provides habitat for invertebrates and small fish, and helps to slow the flow of water, potentially reducing flood risk.”

Some of the trust’s first work on Blackburn and Darwen’s waterways, with bypass channels created at Hoghton Bottoms and Lower Darwen, is to allow the likes of trout and eels to travel upstream.

This coming year restoration work is also planned for a section of the River Roddlesworth near Feniscowles. Work will focus on an underground culvert, beneath the former Star Paper Mill, which has been hidden away since it was built in 1875.

While the old mill has been demolished, and housing expected to be constructed on the site, the trust is taking the opportunity to return the river channel to a more natural state.

A collection point has been set up for the Christmas trees at the Green Jersey cycling hub, at Shawbridge Mill, in Taylor Street, for January 6.

If people want to arrange a collection, between January 7 and 11, they should call 01200 444409.