A street lamp post which collapsed in Blackburn was hit by a vehicle, the council has clarified.

The incident happened over the weekend in Peter Street in the Daisyfield area of the town.

The lamp post collapsed onto a brown wheelie bin, narrowly missing parked cars nearby.

Initially it had been suggested the post had collapsed of its own accord "due to deterioration" but Blackburn with Darwen Council said it has spoken to residents who said it was hit by a vehicle.

Strategic Director of Environment and Operations, Martin Eden, said: “We are aware of the lighting column on Peter Street, Blackburn, that was damaged over the weekend. 

“The incident wasn’t reported to the Council’s emergency out of hours team so we were only made aware of it on Monday morning (August 20).

"The street lighting team went out to site as soon as we received the report and made the site safe. 

“Residents have advised us that the column was hit by a vehicle, but unfortunately at this stage, we do not have any detailed information to enable us to identify the vehicle and its owner. 

"Had the column not been hit by a vehicle then this incident would not have occurred. A team will be attending site on Thursday to install a new lighting column.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

Audley and Queen’s Park Councillor Altaf (Tiger) Patel said it was lucky nobody was injured.

He said: “This could have been fatal. Luckily it happened at a time when nobody was near and it fell on the footpath. Imagine if it had gone across the road.

“I popped over in the morning (Monday) to check and reassure the local residents and spoke to the householder who lives nearby and he said he was luckily away but had parked his car close to the post.

"We put another bin on the side to stop people accessing it.

“The wires and electrical parts of the post are showing and I hope the engineers can come out and make it safe.”