Lock's six-month £2m upgrade completed

A £2m project to renovate and restore a lock that is more than 150 years old has been completed after it was delayed by a month.

Work on Bedford Lock, by the town's Embankment, started in October and was due to finish on 3 April, but was then pushed back to 29 April, the Environment Agency said.

It was fully opened on 30 April after contractors provided "assisted passage" to boaters on Wednesday, it added.

The project, which was two years in the planning, included the lock receiving new doors at one end and its guillotine gate was renovated and repainted in a dark green colour.

Repairs were needed to the lock's walls as they were breaking due to damage caused when tree roots were chopped down in 2009.

The lock, the first in the town, allows the Great Ouse to be navigated along its route through Cambridgeshire to the Wash at King's Lynn, Norfolk.

The structure was built in 1868 and was last refurbished in the 1950s.

The Environment Agency said an extension for the project was needed so that renovations could be completed and workers could "perform safety checks".

It was due to open by Good Friday, 3 April, it added.

"This is a self-imposed rule within the Environment Agency and other navigation authorities, not statutory.

"This is to provide a clear end date for winter maintenance works so that navigation is ready to resume in spring," it said.

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