A NUMBER of trees had to be removed by Bolton Council after being uprooted by torrential weather.

The council were called to a number of incidents across the borough, including Market Street, in Westhoughton and Ainsworth Avenue, in Horwich.

Town councillor David Wilkinson was at the scene of the incident in Westhoughton, where an 80ft Beech tree and lamppost, accompanied with its Christmas lights, fell into the town centre street.

He said: “It could have been quite a nasty accident, at the very least.

“The roots of the tree look like they have completely died. They look rotten.

“It was lucky that no-one was driving or walking past because someone could have been killed.

“I don’t believe the council has any tree budget so it probably won’t be replaced which is a shame.”

Traffic was also diverted for two hours in Horwich on Monday evening after another tree was brought down in the weather.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: “We have already moved or are in the process of removing the majority of trees, whilst others have been removed by the landowners or the housing association which owns the land.

“In Westhoughton, we also repaired a damaged lighting column, fixed the Christmas lights and removed the tree that was blocking Market Street.”

The deluge has also brought fear to many residents in Riverside Driver, in Stoneclough, who were hit by flooding on Boxing Day, last year, after the River Irwell burst its banks.

Riverside resident Neil Fairclough, aged 49, said: “The river has not reached anywhere near where it was last year, but obviously as the weather gets worse there are a lot of concerned people around here.

“People are anxious after what we all went through — I wouldn’t wish the worry and frustration on my worst enemy.

“The next three to four months is crucial for us all.”

Mr Fairclough said he is considering leaving the area and said he wouldn’t be surprised if others are as well.

He said: “It is hard to live with that fear.

“I could imagine 20 per cent of the residents moving on.”

Paul Tyler, aged 51, is another person whose Riverside house was badly damaged by flooding.

He has been aiming to reassure people that the scenes of last year will not be repeated.

He said: “Of course I understand why people are getting anxious when we have a bit of bad weather and you can see on facebook and things how worried they are getting.

“But the weather has been nowhere near as bad — we had a bit of a storm and it passed and I have been trying to reassure people that we will be ok.”

The Environment Agency has confirmed that it has been carrying out investigations at the River Irwell near Prestolee regarding what flood defence works would reduce the risks to the community.

A spokesman said: “The works we carried out were gravel removal to increase the capacity of the river in preparation for winter rainfall.

“We will share the results of the investigations with the local community and will develop any viable scheme in consultation with them.

“We expect to begin consultation next summer.”