Better reporting service
A BETTER reporting service for problems on the waterways is now in place, with only two numbers that need be remembered for reporting incidents or emergencies.
During normal Canal & River Trust office hours, Customer Services 0303 040 4040 we are told is a huge improvement on the previous service, and can be used wherever you are.
Free and quick
There should be no call queueing, and if the question can't be answered immediately, then the caller will be transferred to someone who can answer it. Customer Services has telephone numbers for every office, team and individual in the Trust.
Anyone reporting a problem or wanting help can also use email at
but for those wanting to get hold of someone straight away phone is always best.
Emergency
The other number which is for use in an emergency is 0800 47 999 47, a 24 hours number, manned for CaRT by a branch of the Ambulance Service, with its job to log details of an incident and to alert the relevant duty engineer.
What normally happens is that they page the duty engineer who then phones whoever has reported the emergency. Examples of an emergency include:
- serious injury or a fatality
- a fire or explosion on a boat
- a dangerously damaged lock, bridge or tunnel
- a boat trapped in a dangerous situation e.g. on a weir or in a lock
- serious flooding or a breech which risks lives or property
- serious pollution.
Easy to report
These two numbers mean that it is now easy for boaters to report any incident, whether an emergency or something to prevent an emergency or any incident to the benefit of the waterways, possibly even preventing a closure. After all it is the boaters who see what is occurring, and reporting could easily save something much worse.