AN area of Blackburn which was left mopping up after torrential rain is to be given its own flood warnings in a bid to prevent further disasters.

Homes in the Waterfall area of Blackburn are to become the first in East Lancashire outside the Ribble Valley to receive information direct from the Environment Agency.

And work is due to begin on restructuring Waterfall Bridge, which carries the B6477 through Mill Hill to reduce the chance of flooding again.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused to homes and businesses when the River Darwen burst its banks in June.

The flood was caused by torrential rain which affected large areas of East Lancashire and dislodged several trees further upstream.

The river carried them down to Waterfall Bridge but because of the columns which supports the bridge, they became lodged with other debris, forcing water over the banks.

The redesigned bridge is will lead to less debris collecting under the bridge, although Coun Andy Kay, in charge of regeneration at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said it was impossible to guarantee the area would never flood again.

The Environment Agency, which believes people in the Waterfall area can expect similar floods once every 74 years, has set up a new warning system.

It will give people the chance to at least minimise the damage caused by floods by alerting them by phone.

Around 200 properties in Waterfall, most of them residential, will be covered by the warning service. They are in areas close to the river, from Aqueduct Road to Cartmel Road.

The Agency has contacted all the properties at-risk and held a public meeting in August.

People in at-risk properties who register with the Environment Agency will receive flood warnings from an automatic voice messaging system.

This service is free and sends a pre-recorded message to telephones. It is already used to warn thousands of people about flooding across England and Wales.

Environment Agency Flood Warning Team Leader Alex Cornish said: "You can't always prevent flooding but you can prepare for it."

A call by members of Blackburn with Darwen's regeneration and technical overview and scrutiny committee for screens to be placed across wider sections of the River Darwen to catch potential debris such as trees is set to be rejected by Coun Kay.

A scheme to reconstruct Waterfall Bridge will commence this month and the central column will be removed in the new design reducing the risk of further blockages.

Anyone can find out if they are at risk from flooding, and whether they can receive flood warnings, by calling the Environment Agency's Floodline on 0845 988 1188, or by checking the website at www.environment- agency.gov.uk/floodline