A Rishton woman has called on Lancashire County Council to grit a road that has become a “skating rink” after a delivery lorry skidded and crashed into a house.

The lorry was travelling down Eachill Road and slowed down as it approached the junction with Knowles Street to give way to a vehicle coming the other way.

It hit a spot of black ice and skidded towards a house, ending up on the pavement and touching the building at the corner of the junction.

Luckily, no damage was done to the property and nobody was injured but one resident felt as though the ordeal could have been avoided if the roads had been gritted.

Mum-of-two Nicola Pepper, who lives on Knowles Street and close to the two primary schools in the area, said: “I rang Lancashire County Council and they said they could put in a request for it to be gritted but that doesn’t guarantee that it’ll be done.

“There are parents that have come this morning and just about managed to get their cars to school but then they’ve abandoned them and walked home because it’s just sheet ice. It’s chaos.

“One of the residents managed to find out where a grit bin was but that one was empty so they’ve had to walk further to another one to get a bit of grit to just try and give some traction for cars in that area but it’s not doing much.

“The grit bins are empty and they seem to be miles away from where they’re needed.”

No emergency services attended the incident and the road was not closed, but there was congestion for a while as parents trying to get their children to the schools in the area, St Charles Roman Catholic Primary and Rishton Methodist Primary, were caught behind the recovery vehicle that had come to pull the lorry to safety.

The lorry was eventually pulled away and continued on its route, but the concern now switches to other incidents that could happen if something is not done about the icy side streets.

Nicola continued: “Because at the moment the ice is so heavily compacted it’s just like a skating rink.

“My concern is there are a lot of children who are going to be coming and going from the schools and you have to cross the roads.

“The pavements aren’t too bad and if you stick to the back alleys, it’s even a little easier because it’s not as compacted. But the minute you have to cross a road it’s so dangerous. You need skates!

“It’s just sheet ice and we need somebody to come and grit it to make it safer.”

Nicola also raised concerns about the business who owned the truck, saying it was 'not fair' that they now had to find what she was told was around £1,000 to pay for the recovery vehicle.

She said: “He said he worked for a small family company and this tow truck is going to cost this company close to £1,000, I was told, which is a lot of money for a small business, especially when times are really difficult like this.

“If the roads had been gritted it wouldn’t have been needed. For small businesses like that it’s a heck of a lot of money to try and find. It’s not fair.”

The county council have previously said that highways teams will grit main routes whenever a freeze is forecast and that there are 2,600 grit bins and salt piles throughout the county which were re-stocked in the lead-up to winter.

Kate Walsh, Labour councillor and deputy leader of Hyndburn Labour, said: “In parts of Rishton the people have no access to a grit box, and even when there are grit boxes they’re broken, or it’s all gone, or the grit is frozen.

“We need the council to take responsibility and grit the roads, and fill up the grit boxes that are there.

“What can residents do? We’re in a cost of living crisis, we can’t be expecting residents to go out to the shop and buy their own grit because it’s a service that Lancashire County Council should be providing.”

Lancashire County Council has been approached for comment.