STORMS and flash floods left a trail of damage and devastation as freak midsummer weather left parts of East Lancashire in chaos.

Cars were swept away, houses, shops and mills were flooded and at one house in Rawtenstall the river came over the garden wall, burst through the door and ran through the kitchen and living room. At one time, flood water in Crawshawbooth was six feet deep and the main road through the village was closed.

The main road in Rawtenstall was turned into a river as cars were swept along. Water at a garage in Burnley Road was estimated to be 10 feet deep.

The cellars of about 50 houses in Colne were flooded and water also had to be pumped from mills in Nelson and Earby.

The weight of water caused part of a roof at Woodhey High School, Ramsbottom, to collapse. Floods caused chaos in Kelbrook with homes flooded and areas up to three feet deep in water.

The 4.30pm deluge closed the main Foulridge to Earby road in the village for two hours, with flooding reaching its height near Preston's garage at the New Road junction to Barnoldswick, causing long traffic holdups.

Water lifted tarmac and swept away manhole covers in Dotcliffe Road and Main Street.

The fire and rescue service took 200 calls mainly from Crawshawbooth, Earby, Colne, Burnley, Nelson, and Rawtenstall and a massive clearing up operation was moving into full swing today. Leading Firefighter Andy Sasimowicz said: "The storm came from the Bury area where the road surface was lifted three feet. It then swept up through Rawtenstall, Crawshawbooth and over in the Earby direction."

"Several cars were swept away down the road where the water was two metres deep in places. At a house in Burnley Road the river came over the wall and went through the house after bursting in through the door."

Crawshawbooth village postmaster Philip Boyd said: "Water in our cellar was three and a half feet deep but fortunately did not reach the electrics."

A spokesman for Hudson and Pearson printers, of Oak Mill, Manchester Road, Dunnockshaw, said: "We were hit by the cloudburst and had problems with water but it is business as usual for us today."

Farmer Richard Wilson, of Dotcliffe Road, Kelbrook, came home to find his living room 18 inches deep in water.

Neighbour Tony Halstead said he has never seen flooding like it.

"It was so quick and ferocious, it was frightening in its intensity," he added.

The cellars of the village post office in Main Street were also flooded and stock lost.

A grid installed to stop a culvert under Burnley Road blocking up was blamed for the flooding in Crawshawbooth.

Peter Sidebottom, proprietor of Birtwistle's Funeral Service and Use A Loft, said the water came three foot up his wagon and flooded so quickly he couldn't move his car. Thirty-five workers at Colebrand Ltd, protective coating specialists at Goodshawfold Road, Crawshawbooth, were trapped in the building for an hour when the nearby river burst its banks.

Receptionist/telephonist Jackie Winder said: "We tried to keep the water out by packing the door with containers. But it reached half way up the door and poured into the reception area."

Nearby Kenross Containers was also flooded.

Offices at James Killelea and Co Ltd, structural engineers, of StoneholmeRoad, Crawshawbooth, were also flooded.

Director Pat Killelea said: "It was amazing how fast the river rose. The culvert and drains just could not take the volume."

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