THE campaign to end flooding problems on a busy urban road has been stepped up by the leader of a council.

Local Bradley ward Labour representative Cllr Mohammed Iqbal has written to Lancashire County Council highways boss Cllr Keith Iddon demanding action to improve drainage on Reedyford Road in Nelson.

The road has been plagued by flooding for the past two years and in October United Utilities promised Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson it would carry out a CCTV survey of a culvert blamed for the problem.

Cllr Iqbal, leader of Pendle Council, said: “Despite Cllr Iddon seeing the serious problem at first hand over six months ago, the county council are blaming the nearby landowners for the problem.

“This is a very busy road used by local people and gardens in nearby properties are constantly flooded after a small amount of rain.

“I have once again written to Lancashire County Council demanding they undertake any works and bill the land owners.

“How much longer will local people have to suffer?”

A county council spokesman said: “The flooding problems in this area are caused by the blockage of a culverted water course on the former John Wilman site.

“United Utilities carried out a detailed investigation in November and we are now working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”

A United Utilities spokeswoman said: “We recently managed to gain access into the culvert and we carried out the final phase of camera surveys here. It looks like either the culvert has collapsed or an open section of watercourse has been filled in when the land was re-profiled by the land owner.

“We’ve shared our findings with Lancashire County Council who will determine next steps, which may include serving notice on the land owner.”