Work to resume on South Ribble site where Ikea planned to build

Lancashire County Council said it has plans to secure the site and protect the work that had already been done before Ikea pulled out of the development in May.

Bosses said work will resume later this month at the Cuerden site, close to the M65 and junction 29 of the M6.

This will consist of measures to protect and weather proof the temporary roads and drainage, as well as to safeguard the investment made on the site to date.

Stephen Young, executive director for growth, environment, transport and community services at Lancashire County Council, said: "Good progress had already been made on preparing the site for development, but this work has temporarily stopped while discussions take place with our partners and other companies about the future of this key site.

"Later this month we'll be starting work on some measures to secure the site and protect the site preparation work that we've already done. This could take a few months to carry out, with the majority of the activity taking place within the area of the previous temporary work.

"We're very clear that this continues to be a key development site that could bring a significant number of jobs to the area, and we continue to explore options for the future development of Lancashire Central."

Local residents have been informed of this work, ahead of it starting later this month.