LAST Thursday both the pumps at Bradford-on-Avon supplying water to the Kennet & Avon Canal failed yet again,
But what is worse is that Canal & River Trust will not acknowledge this so have not issued a stoppage notice!
Dangerously low levels
Hire boats and private boats believe the locks are open, as no stoppage notice has been issued, with them heading there all week-end to discover the water is at a dangerously low level, with nothing having been done,
There are boats now stuck in the mud, unable to move, with moored boats along the pound moored at alarming angles as boaters attempt to fill the locks below, so draining the water.
In dire need of replacement
We are simply unable to ascertain just how many times these pumps have failed this year, but it is clear these constant failures can only mean that the pumps are in dire need of replacement, but not issuing a stoppage notice in an attempt to 'cover-up' the failure is really beyond the pale.
But no doubt, by not admitting these constant failures, it furthers CaRT's statement that the 'waterways are in better condition than ever before', which anyone reading the comments from so many boaters in narrowboatworld know they are not.