THE man behind some of Lancashire's most used roads has built another new bypass . . . for fish!

Former county surveyor and bridgemaster Mike Callery, together with a group of enthusiastic volunteers, have been working for five years to improve the lot of trout and salmon on the River Yarrow.

And all their hard work has paid off with the opening of a new 'fish pass' which helps struggling salmon to swim round a mighty weir that has stopped them migrating through Chorley since 1949.

Mike explained: "The River Yarrow was heavily polluted during the Industrial Revolution and as a result the migratory fish population of salmon and sea trout was wiped out.

"Even when the river was cleaned up in recent years these sea feeding fish were prevented from reaching their spawning grounds in the upper reaches of the Yarrow because of the series of weirs built to supply water to mills and the coal industry.

"But now, with the help of the county council, Lancashire Environment Fund, the Environment Agency and Chorley Borough Council and our committed team of volunteers, the fish are finally able to get right upstream.

The new fish pass cost £40,000. One further fishpass has yet to be installed at Croston Mill.