Misleading information concerning the Ashby Canal breach

THE Canal & River Trust is giving misleading information concerning the Ashby Canal breach.

It was on 30th of November that the Trust issued a stoppage notice claiming: 'there is no danger to the water levels on either the Ashby or the Coventry from this breach, though the initial lack of water will take time to recover'.

Returned to normal

This gave the impression that a couple of days would suffice, but a further stoppage notice issued yesterday, Tuesday, tells: 'Water levels have now returned to normal and the navigation has reopened'. 

Boaters, including our Keith Gudgin, who reported the breach, have told us they thought the navigation was open during all this time.

Structural fault

Which amounts to 16 days for the water to recover from what the Trust described in its first stoppage notice as being 'due to a structural fault', that was clearly wrong as David Hughes photograph shows.

There are also doubts as to where the canal is now blocked off.  A stoppage notice states the towpath is open!