Stay away from treacherous moors say police and Mountain Rescue teams.

A casualty is transported off the moor to a waiting ambulance (Photo: Bolton Mountain Rescue).

Mountain Rescue teams say they have been called out to six separate emergencies in the area in the past two days involving walkers, or people out sledging.

Police say they have had numerous reports of cars sliding into each other in the area, with even 4x4 vehicles getting into difficulties on the slippery roads.

"Conditions are terrible and cars have been skidding off the road," said a spokesman for Chorley Police.

Road conditions in the Rivington area have been treacherous for the last three days (Photo: Bolton Mountain Rescue).

"Temperatures are set to go colder which would put people at further risk should they choose to go up there.

"The big freeze over the New Year period has also caused a number of smaller roads to be closed to traffic for safety reasons."

Bolton Mountain Rescue Team says it has had an "eventful" start to 2021 with three emergency call-outs over Friday and Saturday. Roads are reported to be just as treacherous today.

On New Year's Day the service was called out to rescue a 32-year-old woman who had fallen and suffered a fractured ankle.

They then had to deal with an unconscious man near to the Moses Gate Country Park. It took 15 team members, together with ambulance staff and a hazardous area response team to extricate the casualty from an area which was difficult to access.

Minutes later a further 15 team members had to go to the moors above Tockholes near Darwen to carry a 29-year-old male sledger with a serious foot injury down to a waiting ambulance.

Yesterday teams were out in the area again on three further rescues, all caused by the slippery conditions.

The first was a walker who had suffered a painful upper arm injury after slipping on ice.

They dealt with an 83-year-old male who had a laceration to the head after he fell walking alongside the River Middlebrook.

And finally a sledger in Lower Darwen suffered a lower back injury. He was dealt with by the Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue Team.

A spokesman for Bolton MR said: "The roads around Rivington Moor are now extremely treacherous - some have been closed by police and councils.

"We echo the sentiments of Chorley Police and appeal to the public to stay away."

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