THE boss of a wallpaper factory hit by floods has praised his loyal workforce for helping the company to survive.

The 72-strong team at Zen Wallcoverings, in Cross Street, Darwen, pulled together in a round-the-clock clean-up operation to shift mud and water.

Financial director John Clarke said that thanks to their heroic efforts, the company will survive.

He said: "The transformation is amazing. It's very clean in here now and we're more determined than ever to get through this.

"We've had great support from the workforce. They've all been helping clean up and have done almost all of it themselves. Thanks to them it looks like we will survive."

He also paid tribute to other factories in the wallpaper trade which have lent a helping hand taking on orders so Zen's customers were not let down.

Only part of the factory was covered by insurance after flood water swept into the Britannia Mill premises on August 12, causing £300,000 of damage to machinery.

And although Mr Clarke was still not able to rule out job losses, he said he was confident the business would be able to cover its losses and continue trading within 10 days.

A culvert running from the moors and under the factory, which had become blocked by timber and rubble, was blamed for the flooding.

In a bid to make sure the disaster does not strike again, a section of a yard at the rear of the factory has been dug up to expose the culvert and allow blockages to be detected early.

Mr Clarke added: "The most important thing to me is making sure this never happens again."