Storm Debi: Highways team called to floods and fallen trees

According to Lancashire council, there were seven call outs in East Lancashire to make public highways safe, related to flooding and fallen trees.

There were also a number of call outs to clear fallen trees on highways in wider parts of Lancashire.

This is after the storm brought torrential rain and winds of up to 70mph to the north of England.

In East Lancashire, the council’s highway team was called out to clear fallen trees on Ridge Avenue and Reynolds Street in Burnley.

The highways teams was called to Manchester Road in Burnley, twice, to reports of fallen trees.

There was also a report of a fallen tree on Earby Road, Salterforth.

They were also called to carriageway flooding on Skipton New Road, in Foulridge.

Highway flooding was also reported on at Skipton Road in Horton, where gullies were checked and flood boards were on standby.

There were also a number of call outs to clear fallen trees on highways in Wyre and Fylde, including:

• Boulevard St, St Annes - tree cleared
• Park Lane, Cabus - tree removed off road

• Snowhill Lane, Forton  - call out to reports of a tree on the road
• West Drive, Cleveleys (cycle path)  - reports of a fallen tree
• Mayfield Avenue, Thornton Cleveleys  - tree removed
• Woods Lane, Sowerby / Rapley Lane junction  - fallen tree

In the Preston and South Ribble area there were seven call outs, one including a flooded carriageway on Shelley Road in Ashton, and the others involving fallen trees in locations including:

• Wigan Road, Leyland
• Barton Lane, Barton
• Haydock Lane, Preston
• Fulwood Row, Preston
• Cop Lane, Penwortham
• Savick Way, Lea

On Eldon Road in Blackburn, the high winds had caused a tree to fall near the newly built Masjid-e-Irfan.

On Eldon Road, the high winds had caused a tree to fall near the newly built Masjid-e-Irfan (Image: NQ)

Cllr Hussain Akhtar said it was lucky no major damage was caused.

He said: "This happened around 4pm and it was a quieter time of day. Any later and there are children heading to the mosque.

"The council teams have attended quickly to make the area safe."

A house in Accrington also partially collapsed.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service attended the property, in Empress Street, where a wall of a property under construction had collapsed.

Road closures around Hyndburn Street and Empress Street were in place and people were asked to avoid the area.

Collapsed building in Empress Street in Accrington (Image: Lancashire Fire and Rescue)

Several homes across the county were hit with power cuts. Tastebuds café and tea room, in Ormskirk, was left without power, according to Electricity North West.

At the time of writing (November 14) there are still flood alerts in place across the county, including near the River Ribble, River Hodder.

Areas most at risk include Rivers Ribble, Hodder and other watercourses, from Settle to Samlesbury including Clitheroe, Gisburn, Sawley, Waddington and Ribchester.

A Lancashire County Council spokesperson said: “Our highways teams were busy dealing with a number of incidents yesterday.

“In East Lancashire, there were seven call outs to make public highways safe.

“As always, we would encourage people to report any concerns they may have to our highways teams using  our 'report it' service on the council website.”