A COUNCILLOR has condemned the state of Darwen's drains saying they are 'shocking' and not able to cope with heavy rain.

Coun Paul Browne said the recent heavy downpours last week had resulted in streets in the town 'gushing' with water.

He said: "It's like a lake and there's water all over the town.

"It's horrendous, the gullies want clearing, I have contacted somebody at the highways department - I'm not happy, not happy at all."

Coun Browne lives on Greenway Street in the town and said a lot of people had been stopping him to say they were having problems with flooded roads.

He said the council had looked into the matter in the past but the fact it was still happening proved the matter had not been sorted out properly.

He said: "It's just horrendous to be honest with you, if there's a heavy downpour it's like a lake."

And resident Vera Harwood of Greenway Street said she had experienced problems with water overflowing.

She said: "The car park near the library on Knott Street can be very bad and the other day when it was raining so hard I think there was a blocked drain on our street, my car was like a duck sitting on the road."

A Blackburn with Darwen council spokesman said: " We have experienced some heavy rain during the last few days but we are unaware of any specific problems relating to blocked drains and gullies in Darwen.

"The borough's gullies are all cleaned out annually and we would attend to any problem as matter of urgency if we received a complaint."