Boaters left high and dry by water shortage

By eking

EXPERTS today warned repairing a breached canal could prove a logistical headache.

Fields were flooded and boats grounded after an embankment of the Caldon Canal was breached yesterday.

And people linked to the stretch of waterway say the spot could prove tricky to reach for repair work to be carried out.

British Waterways closed a five-mile stretch of the canal, a branch of the Trent & Mersey Canal, between Leek and Stockton Brook yesterday.

A spokesman said the breach, near Barnfields Industrial Estate, Leek, caused water to leak out over agricultural land and into the River Churnet.

He said: "We were called out at 5.30am and engineering teams were on site all day to establish why the breach happened and assess what measures can be put in place.

"It is too early to say how the breach happened."

John Rider, from Leek, is a member of the Caldon and Uttoxeter Canals Trust.

The retired 64-year-old said: "I heard about the breach and went down to slacken mooring ropes, otherwise boats would have tipped over as the water level reduced.

"This stretch of the canal is one of the main feeder routes for water into the canal from Rudyard Lake.

"It is a difficult spot to reach and it will be hard for machinery to access.

"I don't know what caused the breach, but it could have been animals burrowing into the bank or an underwater seepage, where the water wears away at a hole and the bank bursts."

Julie Arnold is a member of the Stoke-on-Trent branch of the Inland Waterways Association, which backs national campaigns to save canals.

The 47-year-old, from Cheddleton, said: "The Government has cut funding to British Waterways, which is impacting on their maintenance.

"We're gathering evidence of where there are maintenance problems which lead to disasters like this one. Mrs Arnold added: "This breach is not good news, as it will divert money needed for regular maintenance.

"The side of the canal collapsed. This means the towpath has gone and so has the embankment and the bottom of the canal. One of the big problems is access, because it is a very remote spot.

"They might have to build a temporary track along the canal which would be expensive."