Work is continuing to ensure that the only access to a village school is complete before next month.

Dearham village is facing disruption as a multi-million project to clear foul-flooding issues continues.

Work began last month and one of the concerns is that The Went, the only access to Dearham School, may not be re-opened before the school is meant to go back in September.

A United Utilities spokeswoman said: “We are concentrating our efforts on completing work on The Went before September as this is the main access road to the local primary school.”

Work at Wilson Farm Close is partially finished and the company is now working on St Mungo’s Close.

Main Street is also temporarily closed to allow Electricity North West to complete its cable diversion work in advance of excavating there to install a new sewer pipe.

Residents will soon be able to get first hand information about what is happening and where.

A public exhibition had to be cancelled because of lockdown, but United Utilities is now building an information centre and garden for local residents to visit and find out more about the improvement work being done.

Parish chairman George Brown said last week that United Utilities had been invited to meetings but had not attended.

The spokesman said: “We postponed our attendance at parish council meetings held earlier this year while we waited for important project information to become available.

“Since lockdown we’ve been in regular contact with the parish council and met two councillors on site in June. “

The Dearham work was originally proposed in 2012 but, after consulting with local residents, it became clear that the foul flooding issues were more widespread than records suggested.

Since then United Utilities has redesigned the project.

Parts of the scheme were delayed again in 2018 when ground investigations revealed old mine workings, forcing changes to the route of the new pipework.

Project manager Rachael Goodson said: “During heavy rainfall Dearham can suffer from sewer flooding and for some people it has even affected their homes.

“It’s a horrible issue. We have wanted to tackle it for years.”