Campaign to preserve the peace on Birmingham's towpaths

A canal charity is calling on people to bring back old fashioned manners as the number of people using the nation's towpaths reaches record levels.

The Canal & River Trust, which cares for 2,000 miles of canals, rivers and towpaths across England and Wales is launching a campaign today, urging people to "share the space and drop their pace".

Towpaths are busier than ever with more than 400 million visits in 2014, with an average of 31 million visits to waterways in the West Midlands.

Temporary duck lanes have been painted on busy towpaths in Birmingham to highlight the narrowness of the space that is shared by people and wildlife.

Ian Lane, Waterway Manager for the West Midlands at the Canal & River Trust, said: