FLOOD chaos hit Darwen last night as torrential rain wreaked havoc across East Lancashire.

Homes close to the River Darwen, in Darwen, were flooded when the river burst its banks, while the town centre was also temporarily cut off.

Clitheroe was also badly hit by heavy downpours, with homes and businesses in the Salthill Road area flooded overnight.

The downpour also transformed roads around Pendle Hill into streams of running water and flooded houses in the Rossendale Valley.

Police, firefighters, council officials and the Highways Authority battled against the weather throughout the night.

In Darwen, the A666 Bolton Road from Hardman Way to Bowling Green Close was closed for more than four hours and a diversion was set up.

Officers said the worse affected area was Bowling Green Close, where a culvert became blocked and later collapsed, but residents in Mayfield Court, Bolton Road, and the Zen Wallcoverings factory in Grimshaw Street were also hit.

Firefighters were called out shortly after 11pm and worked until 4am diverting the water.

Bowling Green Close resident Alan Holmes, 70, said: "It was coming down like a river at the front and back of my house. The fence had to be pulled down to let the water through.

"Water was seeping through the patio doors. It really has made a mess of the place but there is a lot of community spirit around here and everybody is pulling together."

His disabled neighbours Joan and Fred Thompson were the worst affected by the flood.

Joan, 80, who is wheelchair bound, said: "We were just going to bed when it started. I pulled back the curtains and it just looked like a river in our back garden. It's a shame because we just had it looking nice."

Inspector Steve Baines, of Lancashire Police, explained: "The main problems were in Bowling Green Close, Darwen, where the River Darwen bursts its banks and Clitheroe, where heavy downpours flooded up to 25 homes and commercial properties overnight.

"There were problems around Pendle Hill and in Clitheroe but these were due to heavy downpours of rain. "

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