FLOOD hotspots in Clitheroe are to benefit from a £33million flood defence scheme.

Studies are to be undertaken in Low Moor and the Taylor Street areas to see if further flood defences are needed and those already in place are up to scratch.

Increased spending will include a study of the Mearley Brook area to see if flood defences are needed.

The study will include flood-risk mapping, looking at the hydrology of the brook to combat any threat to properties in nearby Taylor Street.

A study in Low Moor to see if flood prevention works carried out by the Environment Agency there a few years ago are adequate is also on the cards.

The agency's flood defence manager for the North West, Jeff Lawrensen, said: "While the region has not suffered as badly as some other parts of the country in recent times, it is essential that we are prepared. We have to keep on top of the situation."

Residents in Low Moor on the banks of the River Ribble have been flooded out of their properties several times over the years.

And a mystery flood in the vicinity of Mearley Brook forced the closure of part of the town centre five years ago.

Town centre streets were left under four feet of water in places and firefighters and council staff worked until the early hours to clear the flood.