POLICE frogmen dredged a section of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal following reports that a woman had thrown a baby into the water.

A section of the canal was sealed off close to a bridge in Lower Audley Street, Blackburn, after two people reported the incident at 10.15pm yesterday.

Officers from Blackburn Police cordoned off the area while members of Lancashire Constabulary's underwater search unit were called in to sweep the canal with searchlights.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "Information was received that witnesses had seen what they believed to be a woman throwing a baby into the canal from the bridge at Lower Audley Street. "Patrols attended the scene, but an initial search proved negative, while an underwater search was also carried out and nothing found."

Police stopped pedestrians from walking along the bank early today. Nearby roads were also closed.

One resident in St Frances Close, Audley, said: "All the commotion started at about 10pm. Apparently two youths said they had seen a woman throw something in the canal. The police were searching all night.

"At first we thought somebody might had fallen in after a fight or something. We couldn't believe it when we heard a baby might have been thrown in."

Another resident in nearby Waters Edge said: "My wife came home quite late last night and said the police divers were out, but we had no idea what was going on."