Town to get vast £24.5m underground storage tank

The new tank will reduce storm overflows into the River Blakewater

A Lancashire town is to get a new £24.5m vast underground storage tank to stop the sewage system being overwhelmed during heavy rainfall.

The tank, set for land off Philips Road and Percliff Way in Blackburn, will be 100ft (30m) deep and 100ft wide and reduce storm overflows into the River Blakewater.

It will be connected by an underground shaft to an existing tank in the same area which was constructed in 2012 and together they will store 15m litres of stormwater, the equivalent of six Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Water company United Utilities said population growth in Blackburn and climate change with more periods of intense rainfall have put additional pressure on the network.

The storage tank will be 100ft (30m) deep and 100ft wide

Simon Holding, head of wastewater treatment services, said: "These tanks act as huge holding areas for the extra rainwater that enters the sewer network during times of heavy rainfall.

"Holding it back means it isn't all hitting the wastewater treatment works at the same time and the system is less likely to be overwhelmed."

The work is expected to take two years to complete.