A race against the clock to complete £300,000 repairs to a collapsed canal embankment is under way.

The collapse, which swept a section of the 200-year old Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Rishton into the River Hyndburn, is expected to take until at least another four weeks to be fixed.

The Canal and River Trust, which cares for 2,000 miles of canals, rivers and docks in England and Wales, is aiming to get the canal re-opened as quickly as possible.

Chantelle Seaborn, waterway manager for the trust, said: “The Leeds & Liverpool Canal is an extremely popular canal for hundreds of boaters, walkers and cyclists that use it every day.  We appreciate that this is a major disruption for people who enjoy the towpath but most especially for any boaters that are trying to get back to their home moorings, so time really is of the essence.”

Contractors have installed temporary dams in the canal on either side of the collapsed towpath, which happened between bridges 108a and 109 on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal on September 11.

A programme of works will now begin to stabilise the embankment, re-line the canal bed and re-construct the towpath and wash wall.

The culvert, which runs under the canal, will also be re-lined to extend its life for another 100 years.

Engineers are still investigating the cause of the incident but initial findings suggest erosion has caused huge sink holes in the canal bed, affecting a 16 metre by 18 metre area.

The Trust is working to re-open the canal as quickly as possible and estimates the canal will re-open at the end of November subject to weather conditions.