Lancashire County Council ignoring dangerous ‘death drop’ claims Garstang professor

Professor Charles Davis claims that Lancashire County Council has ignored an ‘almost vertical drop’ for two and a half years, as only an ‘insecure fence’ is used to protect pedestrians after the narrow road collapsed into a tributary of the River Brock.

Prof Davis, who is an honorary fellow at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), says part of Walmsley Bridge Lane – next to the bridge which overlooks Winsnape Brook, between Claughton and Whitechapel – slipped into the adjacent waterway in March 2020, taking several trees with it down a steep bank.

Prof Davis, 70, said: “It is amazing that no one has fallen over, it’s used by horses, bridleway, cyclists as well. Nothing has been done. Somebody will fall over the edge and the fall is 80-100 feet.

“It would be fatal.”

He added: “The land slipped and a quarter of the road came with it and it continues to erode underneath. It is not safe.”

A neurologist, Prof Davis is semi-retired from UCLan and works closely with the university and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals conducting research into brain tumours.

He believes the council has ignored the danger for the two years, since the land eroded and the road collapsed, due to the expense of fixing it.

The drop is masked by a temporary high-visibility orange fence, which Prof Davis says doesn’t protect individuals from the pathway that is used by walkers, bikes, horses, and adjacent to the well-used Bilsborrow to Brock Bottoms path.

The professor lives just a mile from the area and regularly visits to prop up the fence, which is held down by sandbags.

Prof Davis said: “For two-and-a-half years Lancashire County Council has refused to repair the road collapse into the River Brock.

“This is incredibly dangerous, a pathetic fence is not safe for the very steep vertical drop. I go regularly to prop it up.

“It is amazing no one has been injured. If you fell, you’d die,” Prof David added. “No one would know it’s a vertical drop.

“The barriers fall down all the time and from a safety point of view, they are no use.”

County Councillor Charles Edwards, a county council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Walmsley Bridge is currently closed to vehicles but open to cycles, horses, and walkers.

“The plastic barriers are not designed as crash barriers, but are designed to make the edge visible.

“The barriers are brightly coloured to ensure that walkers’ and riders’ attention is drawn to the fact that the available road is narrower than might be expected,” added Coun Edwards.

"Providing a permanent solution to the landslip is a priority and the council is currently considering options.”