E mail received this evening from good friend of QLocal, Bernie Webster of Crabtree Lane, Burscough. Reporter Roger Blaxall contacted him after hearing news of a hole in the road.

'Hi Roger,

I hope you are well.

Fortunately we managed to avoid internal flooding here, but it was a close thing!

All of the gardens had water sitting on them as the storm worked its way through.
The hole in the road was only around 60mm in diameter but it was taking water for most of the day so there was a possibility that there may have been some substructure erosion.

LCC highways department was very quick to respond and have investigated. Its report suggests there was no serious void beneath the hole, and it will be re-instated. The water was making its way through to a field drain; everything is in hand and it does not pose any threat now.


The field from the new football ground through to Crabtree Lane was seriously flooded. This was not helped by the fact that Network Rail have a less than impressive timetable, despite much encouragement from Rosie Cooper and Adrain (sic) Owens.

The ‘temporary repair’ made on October 6th has not been fully re-instated; the repair has restricted the culvert to even less capacity than before, increasing the threat to homes, particularly 77 on the south side of the line.

Apart from that, and please excuse the pun, we are 'keeping our heads above water'.

Regards,

Bernie W.