Frozen padlocks close the Leeds & Liverpool

THERE is little doubt that the Leeds & Liverpool Canal has had more than its fair share of stoppages recently, but now a different one.

Though Canal & River Trust originally stated the locks on the Blackburn Flight were frozen, this was not so, it is the  padlocks that are frozen and thus stopping the gates being unlocked, Keith Gudgin reports.

Closed the flight

So the flight is closed from locks 52 to 57 as the frozen padlocks cannot be undone so locks cannot be worked.

All to do with climate change we are told, with things getting warmer.

LATEST: The padlocks have been thawed out and the flight reopened but with restrictions.