COUNCIL bosses have been landed with a huge bill after emergency teams dealt with nearly 300 calls during the Christmas gales. Workmen battled to clear fallen trees, repair street lighting and make a gable wall of a house safe at the height of the storm-force winds. Council staff were also called out to schools as security alarms went off, and dealt with flooding and television aerials, brought down by the wind.

At one stage, five roads were closed by fallen trees and other incidents.

Now town hall chiefs are counting the cost.

A spokesman said: "At this time we can only say the bill will be in the thousands.

"There was nothing else that could be done. It was an emergency situation and we had to deal with it accordingly."

The busiest time was Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, when council staff and horticultural contractors, were called out 26 times to clear fallen trees from roads and footpaths.

Workmen also cleared a radio antenna which collapsed across a road and fence at Chorley Old Road, an advertising hoarding blown down in Waterloo Street and plastic windows blown loose at a Westhoughton bus shelter.

Two houses had to be evacuated when a wall at Gregson Field Mill, Great Lever, collapsed.

Flooded culverts, which had been blocked by fallen branches, were cleared and safety barriers had to be erected outside a property at Tonge Moor when a gable end crashed down.

Council leader Cllr Bob Howarth said: "All the teams did a tremendous job. Several of the incidents were potentially quite serious and safety is of paramount concern.

"In all some 288 calls were received at our control room but staff on their way to and from incidents also spotted other damage and dealt with that too.

"The list includes a wide range of incidents, each of which had to be dealt with by emergency staff.

"We have also found a number of incidents in parks and land where trees have been blown over and they'll have to be dealt with."

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