Improvement work will prevent flooding on M65 near Burnley

The scheme involves fitting bigger grids to existing drains to increase their capacity and reduce the likelihood of them becoming blocked with debris.

Lancashire County Council is also highlighting the issue of people dropping litter which adds to the problem of drains becoming blocked.

The work will be taking place on the eastbound side of the motorway between junctions 10 and 11.

A lane closure is already in place for maintenance being carried out by Highways England, and Lancashire County Council is working with them to extend this for another six weeks from Monday, May 11th to minimise the overall level of disruption.

County Coun. Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "We're aware that there have been issues with surface water flooding on this part of the M65 and this work should help to reduce the risk of it happening in future.

"Our investigations have found that the existing drainage system has good capacity, but there's a problem with the water being able to enter the system due to issues with the gully lids.

"The solution involves fitting new grids that are three times larger than the existing ones, which will help to prevent them becoming plugged with leaves and other debris.

"A lot of this other debris is litter which people throw from their vehicles as they travel down the motorway. Apart from the obvious environmental damage this causes, it adds to the problem of drains becoming blocked, and puts our workers at risk due to the need to carry out litter picking on such a high-speed road.

"The vast majority of people take their litter home, and I'd ask the minority who don't to consider the consequence of their actions next time they think of doing it."

Lancashire County Council is responsible for the section of the M65 motorway from junction 10 at Burnley to junction 14 at Colne.

While the lane closure is in place highways teams will also be carrying out routine maintenance to clean the drains and ensure they're free of silt.

County Coun, Iddon added: "We're hoping the reduced levels of traffic due to the coronavirus lockdown mean this work can be carried out without causing the levels of disruption we would usually expect.

"At the same time we will be monitoring the situation in case anything changes."