A SPECIALIST consultant will be employed to investigate flooding problems in the Gisburn Road area of Barnoldswick.

It is the latest attempt by Pendle Council to tackle flooding after a series of incidents across West Craven. They have caused misery to residents whose homes have been repeatedly flooded.

Considerable work has already been carried out in the Lane Ends area of Earby and Ghyll Meadows in Barnoldswick, with indications that it has eased the problems.

Now the focus has shifted to Gisburn Road, where homes and businesses have been hit by flooding on several occasions this year.

The worst incident was on August 24, when a torrent of floodwater swept through the area. Homes along Fernbank Avenue had their gardens washed away and damage running into thousands of pounds was caused at Westfield Mill, occupied by vinyl floor and wall covering company Dermide Ltd. Householders in Gisburn Road and Blakeley Crescent also suffered flooded basements and other damage to their homes.

Work to identify the causes has already been carried out by Pendle Council officers and a meeting with residents was held in September to gather their views.

Now West Craven councillors have resolved to engage a specialist consultant to carry out a drainage study.

Gisburn Road resident Ernest Spencer has carried out his own investigations and written repeatedly to the council and his MP seeking action. He addressed the December meeting of Pendle's West Craven committee, outlining work that could be done quickly and easily to reduce the risk of further flooding.

Speaking to the Craven Herald, he explained that the catchment area for the water was land next to Fernbank mill, suggesting it had been made worse by recent building of new homes in the area.

When the water reaches a critical level it runs off into a watercourse at the back of homes along Fernbank Avenue, the torrent of water sweeping away gardens and walls on August 24. That watercourse drains into the mill dam at Westfield Mill, but the force of water was so great that the dam filled in 20 minutes then spilled out into back Gisburn Road.

The 24-inch diameter drainage culvert was unable to cope and the flood water ran in a river a foot deep down the back street. From there it runs into a stream from Gisburn Road, near the Fosters Arms, through to Greenberfield lane and discharging into Stocks Beck. That stream runs for most of its length in a ditch, but Mr Spencer says it is in such a poor state, overgrown and partially blocked, that it was unable to cope and the water just backed up.

"I've lived here for 30 years and it has flooded fairly regularly, but I've never seen it as bad as it was in August," he said.

"It would need a 54-inch pipe to take that volume of water, and on top of that there are 40 grates in these side streets all draining into that culvert."

Mr Spencer believes better drainage is needed next to Fernbank mill and that work is urgently needed to improve the drainage ditch away from Gisburn Road and into Stocks Beck.

He has already liaised with drainage engineers from Pendle Council, who have suggested a number of improvements to the mill dam to prevent it overflowing and divert water away if it does.

But he is also adamant that the council cannot go on allowing more and more development, with new housing estates connecting to 100-year-old drainage systems that were never designed to take such a volume of water.

Coun Chris Tennant welcomed news that a consultant would be employed, but suggested work to improve the drainage ditch could be carried out easily and cheaply before then.