The day the rains came hundreds of homes across the region were left under water and several roads had to be closed because they were impassable.

It started around teatime and lasted for three-quarters of an hour, but left a trail of devastation across the region as even the 999 system crashed under the weight of record numbers of calls.

In the Ribble Valley, the A59 trunk road was blocked by several feet of water at Sawley, creating major tailbacks, and there were problems in Blackburn, Darwen and Hyndburn.

Houses and businesses in Whalley New Road, Blackburn, were among the hardest-hit and residents in Lower Darwen had to evacuate properties where floodwater reached waist level. Flash flooding also hit parts of Burnley and Rossendale.

Householders in Oswaldtwistle were affected for the second time in less than two years.

In February the old sewers in New Lane and Thwaites Street, Oswaldtwistle, were renovated and reinforced in an eight-week project carried out by United Utilities.

Residents in nearby Thwaites Road and Wordsworth Close were assured they would be next to benefit from improvement work and some new drains were put in at the rear of Wordsworth Close.

But Barbara Bentley, 63, said her Thwaites Road home was flooded for the second time in 12 months on Friday and she had had to rip up all of her downstairs carpets as water poured through the house under her door and front window, leaving the carpets floating.

She said: "I only had the carpets put in at Christmas and they are ruined as there was sewerage in the water. There are two manholes just across from the house and new pipes and grates were put in to alleviate potential problems but sewerage was just pumping out again.

"I feel very angry about the situation and it will get to the point where we can not insure the properties along here. I just don't know what to do."

In the aftermath of the deluge Coun Peter Britcliffe, member for Oswaldtwistle, called for an inquiry into the handling of the emergency.

"I think it's quite a good question this week because last Friday proved we weren't adequately covered," he said.

"When we got that sudden deluge it stretched the emergency services far past their limits.

"I phoned 999 at one point and it was engaged. When I eventually did get through there seemed to be very little advice they could give.

"In my own ward the same lot of people have been flooded out twice in less than two years and it's an awful problem. Whether it's global warming or not we have been aware of these trends for some time. It's not a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, it's just making sure the horse stops in in future.

"All the various agencies need to work together to come up with a flood defence plan for East Lancashire, and also look at the problem areas."