'I said, it's never happened before, it'll be fine... 20 minutes later it was inside my house'
It’s a secluded village in one of Lancashire’s most desirable locations - but some of say their idyllic corner of the county is haunted by a common fear.
But the Environment Agency has pulled the rug on temporary flood defences at Billington and Ribchester as part of a national review, citing the mobile flood barriers taking too long to set up properly, and climate change. A permanent solution of a wall barrier and a floodgate nearby has apparently stalled, according to local flood groups.
“If it happened again in the middle of the night it would be dreadful as there are 38 terraced houses and they’re on an unadopted street, so it was all down to us, we were responsible for the street and pavement and the drains.” "Those four months are a worry and a concern for any of us and our neighbours down here. It's a lovely, lovely area full of history, but they're not going to put the barriers so how can we stop the water coming across? We've got a WhatsApp group so there's a good little community but it needs sorting.”
She fears the mobile defences wouldn’t hold back the river - but crucially, they would buy time if the street does flood, as water always surges and recedes ‘very quickly’ she says, adding: “The barriers won't stop it coming and won't keep the water back but it will slow it down and give us more time.
"We had more notice to move things upstairs. It's a shame; it's a nice street and we've got good neighbours but It was more scary the first time around.” She queries why ‘everything seems to take so long,’ adding: “The first flood was back in 2015 and we are now in 2022 - and we're no further to knowing whether there's a solution.”
A possible permanent solution for Billington would see a flood defence wall between Longworth Road and a nearby factory premises, Harrison’s Engineering, with lockable flood defence gates at the entrance to the engineering site. Councillor Mirfin said: “There is no way of sugar coating it, this is bad news for the residents of Longworth Road.
"More so because it is unable to be used to protect residents that are vulnerable to large scale flooding events.”
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