Police advise against using towpaths

LEICESTER police are advising women in the city not to use the towpaths at night as they are not safe.

It seems a great pity that whilst British Waterways is doing all it can to promote its towpaths, police are advising people not to use them, with women being told not to use either the Grand Union or Soar towpaths in the city at night, Alan Tilbury reports.

Sex assaults

This is the result of a man or men carrying out a number of sex assaults on women using the ill-lit towpaths.

The actual number of attacks is not known, but police have recorded five since April, and believe many go unreported.

The situation is so bad that personal attack alarms are being handed out to  women and students, and being advised to walk with friends and avoid the towpaths but use well-lit roads.

Best avoided

A police spokesman explained:

"The canal towpath is best avoided because it's not well-lit and it is isolated. On occasions he has been on foot, there have been reports of a  male on a cycle."

Inspector Ashford told that she did not want to cause unnecessary alarm but that women should always be aware of their personal safety, adding:

"We are looking at each of the reports. We have increased our patrols in the vicinity of the towpath."

Personal safety campaign

The police warning comes as De Montfort University continued its annual personal safety campaign for its students, warning residents who live near the canal, as well as the students, not to walk alone after dark, and advising students to book taxis in advance, not to take short-cuts on the towpaths walking home, and to look after one other.

It is not just in Leicester where people are advised not to use the towpaths, but all over the country, with people being thrown into the canals, attacked or even killed as they walk by the side of the waterways, and regrettably not only in the hours of darkness.