Canal closed to 'conserve water' during dry spell

Four locks along the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire have either been shut or have restricted use to preserve water during the dry spell.

The Canal & River Trust (CRT) said the Northampton Arm had been closed and restrictions were in place in Braunston, Long Buckby and Stoke Bruerne.

It said that due to the lack of rain the charity was saving as much water as possible and it was transferring "the flow that's available to the right places on the network to meet demand".

It apologised for the disruption but said the reservoirs and water sources, like rivers and groundwater that fed the canals, were "simply not being replenished".

"These are sensible precautions to lock the canal up overnight and preserve as much water as possible," it said.

"The summer's hot weather and lack of rain means that our charity is doing all we can to save water and transfer the flow that's available to the right places on the network to meet demand.

"The Met Office has said that parts of England have seen the longest unbroken spell of no recorded rainfall this century."

It said it had put "measures in place to conserve water, including in some instances, restricting lock usage by boats".

It hopes the temporary measures will preserve supplies and keep navigations open for boating for as long as possible.

"The situation with low flows can be exacerbated because of lock misuse, plus the ageing nature of the canal network, where water naturally seeps away from the canal."

It said a number of repairs and upgrades were planned to improve this, including replacing five locks along the Grand Union Canal at Stoke Hammond, Milton Keynes, Winkwell near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire - and three at Stoke Bruerne.

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