GALE force winds wreaked havoc for Chorley motorists when two fallen trees blocked a main road for a day.

No one was hurt when the full-sized oak and beech tree came down outside Goff's Cottage, near Withnell, early on Saturday (February 23) blocking the A674 Blackburn Road until 5pm.

Council engineers had to cut down a third tree after discovering that the two fallen trees had displaced soil around its base.

The road was shut from 11am to 5pm as a team of six council engineers using chainsaws braved snow storms to clear the road.

Dave Rigby, contracts manager of Lancashire Council's engineering services, said: "We were alerted by the duty room of Lancashire County Council at 11.15am on Saturday morning.

"The carriageway was totally blocked by the trees when we arrived. The trees had fallen close together and had moved all the soil away from another oak tree at the side so we had to physically cut that down as well. It could have been dangerous.

"The wind was very high up on the top there and it must take its toll on the trees."

John Taylor, county council area surveyor for Chorley, South Ribble and Preston, said Chorley remained relatively unscathed despite the recent rain. he said: "We have had no major flooding in the Chorley area and we are hoping for the water levels to go down as the year progresses. When water levels are very high and it keeps on raining all we can do is wait for it to go down."