URGENT investigations are to be carried out into a washed out area of Skipton.

For years, residents and businessmen near a part-blocked canal culvert on Ings Lane have complained about the mini river they face whenever there is a downpour.

Tenants of an adjacent housing association at Broughton Mews have complained of the potential environmental hazard posed by the overflows.

And last Thursday's heavy rain saw people wading ankle-deep through water. Others took their chances in cars and drove slowly through the flood.

After countless complaints, Craven District Council is trying to find out who has responsibility for the canal culvert.

No-one wants to have the mystery solved more than Broughton Mews tenant Kathleen Dunn, who has been fighting to have the culvert maintained for nearly three years.

Kathleen, 77, said: "The main problem is that there has been no maintenance of the culvert. There is an argument going on between the council and the Home Housing Association, which owns the property.

"In the summer, tenants facing the culvert say it smells and it could be an environmental problem. It is in a terrible state.

"I am determined to get something done. It's the last public spirited thing I'm doing because I'm getting too old for it."

Mrs Dunn might get her wish after a meeting with the council's chief executive and other annoyed locals on February 2, by which time the results of the authority's investigation should be known.

Ken Robinson, the council's housing services team leader, said: "I attended the Ings Lane culvert last Thursday and the responsibility, as far as I can see, lies with the riparian owners.

"The responsibility might be with Craven District Council. It depends on whether we have done works in the area in the past. That might mean we assume some liability for the culvert."

But some of those affected by the flooding feel the authority is washing its hands of responsibility.

Derek Green, the owner of Green's car dismantlers at the end of Ings Lane, says he suffers lost trade every time water flows down to his yard.

He said: "The council doesn't want to know. The Environmental Agency has been down here and says it's due to local drainage.

"When the council's refuse lorries used to use Ings Lane to get to the tip at the other side of the bypass the culvert was always clear.

"But since then, it's not been the same. Now, every time the water backs up we lose business because clients can't get access to our compound."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.