Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
The case of contamination in parts of Thornton by cancer-causing chemical PFOA is destined to become a limited series on a streaming platform.
We have featured the problems in Thornton as part of our briefing, but we wanted to ensure we could write with some authority on the matter before we gave it the full story treatment.
And that’s what we do today, with award-winning reporter Michael Holmes, who lives nearby, brought in to tell you about a Wyre Council document that he has seen which warns of “significant pollutant linkage relating to human health resulting from the presence of PFOA in both the onsite soils and produce (ie site-grown vegetables), creating an unacceptable risk to human health”.
Lancashire briefing
🗳️ West Lancashire-based deputy leader of Lancashire County Council Simon Evans has announced his intention to stand as a candidate in the Brookfield ward of Preston City Council.
The ward is around 25 miles from the area he represents currently at Lancashire County Council-level, which is Skelmersdale Central.
In announcing the decision, County Cllr Evans said that he had worked in Brookfield for several years in the mid-2000s as part of his senior role at crime reduction charity Nacro.
He also announced the move with the slogan: ‘Don’t Allow Our City to be Hijacked.”
County Cllr Evans believes he will be eligible to stand due to County Hall being based in the city of Preston. District-level council rules typically require a person to live or work in an area they are stand, although these are rarely strictly enforced - usually because there is rarely any need.
County Cllr Evans was unsuccessful in his bid to be elected to West Lancashire Borough Council representing Ormskirk East earlier this year.
🍸 Escapade Events has signed a 10-year lease with Preston City Council to take on the former Mad Giant site in the city centre council-owned Animate scheme.
Mad Giant opened to some fanfare late 2025 but, by September, it was announced to be leaving.
The site will now be called Unit 6 and brings together Heathcote&Co, led by Paul Heathcote MBE and Gary Bates, and adds a deeper connection to Preston than there had been previously.
In announcing the deal, Cllr Martyn Rawlinson, cabinet member for resources at Preston City Council, pinpointed the team’s experience at rival food hall Chew’s Yard as one of the positives of the move.
But in a revised announcement, all reference to Chew’s Yard was removed.
🚧 Residents have come out in favour of bringing an ‘eyesore’ derelict mill back into use. Waterside Mill, in Bacup, has sat as a burnt-out and dangerous husk since it was engulfed in flames 23 years ago.
The Grade II-listed mill is one of many historic buildings across Rossendale which has fallen into disrepair, with parts of it having collapsed in the years since the fire.
Talks of demolition have also cropped up, with it having become a magnet for vandalism and fly tippers. But at its cabinet meeting last month, Rossendale Council took a big step towards saving Waterside Mill from such a fate.
The council agreed for the mill to be passed onto Valley Heritage as part of a compulsory purchase, due to its owners having vanished.
Valley Heritage was the charity responsible for bringing the Grade II-listed Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank in Bacup back up to scratch and has worked on other such projects in the area.
Contaminated land at Thornton creating an ‘unacceptable risk to human health’
By Michael Holmes
Two allotment sites in Thornton have been formally declared “contaminated land” as part of a probe into pollution linked to the former ICI site at Hillhouse.
It comes after soil tests at the allotments in Occupation Road and Sandringham Avenue showed contamination from the facility, which is now run by AGC Chemicals Europe and used perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from the 1950s to 2012 to make the coating for non-stick frying pans.
The cancer-causing substance was finally fully banned last year and is part of a group called Pfas, used in a range of products and known as “forever chemicals” because they can take hundreds of years to break down.
The local authority said after a meeting, which saw the allotments officially branded as “contaminated” following a vote by councillors, that it will “now follow the strict legal process” to get the sites cleaned up so they can be safely used again.
The allotments were closed earlier this year, with plot holders told to collect their belongings and not to eat anything they had grown.
A “liability assessment” will be done to “identify any persons or organisations that may be legally responsible for the contamination”.
The council said: “Once this is completed, the council is required to begin a consultation with any parties identified as potentially liable for a minimum of three months before considering proposals for voluntary remediation and deciding whether any formal enforcement action is needed.”
A spokesperson said: “We understand how important these sites are to the allotment tenants and the wider community and we will continue to keep residents informed as this process moves forward.”
A report from Wyre Council leader Michael Vincent and environment director Mark Billington, seen by The Lancashire Lead, warned of a “significant pollutant linkage relating to human health resulting from the presence of PFOA in both the onsite soils and produce (ie site-grown vegetables), creating an unacceptable risk to human health”.
Blood tests carried out on 49 residents in the village showed that 70% had heightened levels of PFOA, with those affected living close to the ICI site, it was revealed recently.
The raised levels have put locals at risk of cancer and other health problems such as high cholesterol, law firm Leigh Day, which is looking into the contamination, has said.
Sam Hammond, a mother-of-five who took part in the testing, has lived near the manufacturing site for more than 20 years.
She worries her children have been poisoned through breastfeeding, while her family and neighbours have fallen ill.