Asbestos Removal & Surveys in Lancashire

Asbestos Specialists Across Lancashire

Lancashire's cotton and textile mills used a lot of asbestos. Because of that industrial past, asbestos is common in the county's older business and residential property.

Stone and brick terraces, mill buildings and post-war housing are the norm. Much of it was built before the asbestos ban.

The mill towns of east Lancashire, among them Burnley, Nelson, Accrington and Rossendale, have dense terraced housing and old industrial buildings in roughly equal measure. On the coast at Blackpool and Morecambe it's different again, with lots of guest houses and flats converted from older seaside property.

More of Lancashire's 720,650 properties were built between 1900 and 1939 than in any later period before the 1999 ban, and about 83.7% predate the ban altogether. Housing of that age has usually been re-roofed, extended or rewired at least once, and it is those later works that most often introduced asbestos.

The most common property type in Lancashire is terraced houses, at about 32.7% of the stock, followed by semi-detached houses at 24.4%. In terraced housing built before the ban, extensions, outbuildings and replacement roofs are where asbestos cement and insulating board most often turn up.

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How it works in Lancashire

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Managing & Disposing of Asbestos in Lancashire

In Lancashire that duty runs across 14 separate council areas. The buildings it covers range from town centre shops and offices to public buildings and the shared parts of blocks of flats. What the duty to manage requires is set out in full in our guide for landlords and businesses.

Disposing of asbestos in Lancashire

Ten of Lancashire's recycling centres (Altham, Burnley, Burscough, Chorley, Clitheroe, Farington, Fleetwood, Haslingden, Lancaster and Preston) accept correctly wrapped cement-bonded household asbestos, up to 6 sheets or bags per visit and 18 per year, wrapped in heavy-duty polythene, with smaller pieces double-bagged and sealed. The county's asbestos page does not state a charge; Burnley Borough Council's page says the county centres accept it free of charge. Centres provide asbestos wrapping materials free in limited quantities. All vans and trailers, including single axle trailers, must book an appointment before visiting a recycling centre; a booking can be made once in the calendar month, bookings are limited to 12 per year, and a hire van needs its hire agreement and photo ID. Pedestrians are not allowed in, and that includes parking outside and walking in. Vehicles of 3.5 tonnes or more, any vehicle or trailer with a tipping mechanism and trailers more than 3 metres long cannot use the centres. Only cement-bonded asbestos is accepted; other (fibrous) types must be removed by a registered contractor. Skelmersdale, Barnoldswick, Carnforth, Longridge and Garstang do not accept asbestos, and Lytham is not on the county's list. (council source, verified 2026-10-10)

Check the site's own page before you travel. Recycling centres are often closed on set weekdays, and often set extra rules for vans, pick-ups, trailers and visitors on foot, such as permits, size limits or no access on foot.

Asbestos waste is classed as hazardous (special) waste.So there are rules on how it's wrapped, labelled, carried and recorded. We set them out in full in our disposal guide.

Councils across Lancashire set their own rules for households. When we arrange the work, disposal is handled for you. For the rules where you live, see our asbestos disposal by council lookup, or check typical prices in the UK asbestos removal cost report.