ONCE again the Leeds & Liverpool is closed, and again a 'boat strike' is being blamed, but what is the real reason for the failure?
Canal & River Trust state today (Monday) that a 'boat strike' has caused the failure of Lock 61 on the Johnsons Hill Flight at Chorley on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal 'due to damage to the gate following a boat strike' with the flight now closed.
Causing so much damage
Our Keith Gudgin, reporting the failure asks: "'How come boat strikes are causing so much damage to locks? Is it because they are in such a poor condition and therefore vulnerable, or are boaters becoming lazy and just ramming gates to open them?"
Or is it just a case of 'the blame game', with boaters being blamed, as Keith suggests, lock gates being in such poor condition?
Whatever the cause, the lock will not be inspected until Wednesday.