RESIDENTS and business owners living near the Ribble and Darwen rivers were placed on flood alert last night as East Lancashire was hit by a deluge.

Steady rainfall prompted the Environment Agency to put the Ribble in Ribchester on flood warning, the highest state of alert, at 5pm yesterday.

But the red alert was downgraded at 11pm after the 8.30pm high tide failed to bring the anticipated flooding.

Residents living around the River Darwen in Hollins Grove, Darwen, and Waterfall, Mill Hill, were put on flood watch by the Environment Agency, the second highest warning, at the same time. But the rain had tailed off by 8.30pm and the warning was downgraded to flood watch for the Ribble and was cancelled completely for the River Darwen.

Inspector Steven Howarth, of Blackburn Police, said: "Several properties immediately next to the river in Ribchester were sand-bagged but at the 8.30pm high tide, when they thought there would be problems, the flood never materialised. There was no flooding overnight."

A spokesman for the fire service added: "We were given the flood warning early on our shift but the rain slowed down and we had no problems."

In Ribchester, two properties, Harwood House and the Ribchester Arms, were put on specific flood warnings following problems in the past.

'Flood warning' means residents and businesses must act immediately as flooding is expected.

But a spokesman for the Ribchester Arms said: "The rain has stopped and we are fine. It has not affected us at all."

The car park of the nearby Stonebridge Restaurant was left slightly waterlogged. A spokesman said: "It has come over the bottom of the car park but it hasn't affected us."

Ribchester councillor, Brian Collis, said: "It has not been too bad at all. As far as I am aware there have been no problems.

"Everything is alright at the moment because it has stopped raining."

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "The Ribble at Ribchester has been downgraded from a flood warning to flood watch and that affects Harwood House and the Ribchester Arms."

The weather forecast for today was scattered showers with clear spells and strong winds.