Bus stop jet ski video goes viral

Kieron Mclaughlin filmed the stunt by Andy Johnson in the floodwater on Euxton Lane, near Chorley, and his video has gone viral with more than 1,300 shares and 114,000 views on social media.

The jet-skier was captured braving the floods under the railway bridge in Euxton, while Kieron himself took to canoeing through the water.

Kieron said: “My house backs on to that water.

“It is almost up to our drive and it’s forecast to rain the next few days, which could be a real issue.

“My wife said ‘it sounds like they are pumping it’, she had a look and said ‘there’s a guy on a jet ski’.

“I went out and filmed him, put it on Facebook and it’s had nearly 115,000 views, I’ve had friend requests from all over Europe.

“It’s gone viral.”

Kieron also went canoeing in the water the following day, and said: “I just thought if you can’t beat them, join them.”

He said: “My wife is a bit worried, it’s not disappearing, it’s getting worse and if it gets much worse we’ll not get off our drive.

“It’s definitely worse now.”

Jet-skier Andy, 46, from Chorley, took to the water on New Year’s Eve after seeing the height of the deluge.

He said: “I didn’t expect the video to do as well as it did.

“I saw the opportunity, I thought there’s nobody who’s lost anything in Euxton that I’m aware, I didn’t want to cause anyone any trouble.”

Meanwhile, a taxi driver had to climb out of the window of his vehicle and swim to safety after getting trapped in the flooded water at the bridge.

The driver, working for Chorley Taxis, was on his way to pick up a late night fare on Runshaw Lane, Euxton.

A spokesman said: “It was very dark and there were no emergency warning signs.

“He was going around 30 or 40 mph and quickly applied the brakes, but it was too late. It was eight or nine feet deep.

“The car stopped and it was floating on the water. It was sinking from the front and going down. He wound the window down and got out of the window and got on the roof of the car.”

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: “In 2011 Network Rail put in place an automatic pump to deal with the problem of flooding on Euxton Lane which had developed due to the collapse of a drain which is close to the West Coast Main Line and therefore very difficult to access.

“We have reported the problem to Network Rail and put in place a signed diversion until the issue can be resolved.”

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We are treating the matter of flooding in Euxton Lane in Chorley very seriously and we have scheduled engineers to go out on site to reduce the water levels and assist in any damage to the pumps.

“In consultation with local authority partners we are currently exploring ways to reduce flooding in this location.”