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Canal towpath collapses in Wiltshire

Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage caused on Kennet and Avon Canal Credit: Kennet & Avon Canal

Part of a towpath on the Kennet and Avon Canal has collapsed after a lock gate was left open next to the Caen Hill locks.

The weight of water released washed away part of the embankment.

The Canal and River Trust say the damage caused could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and it does not know if the damage was caused by "carelessness or deliberate vandalism".

It really couldn’t have happened in a worse spot – the pound above Kennet Lock is the longest on the whole canal, so we’re talking about a lot of water rushing down the Caen Hill flight, which has caused the damage.

The Kennet & Avon Canal is over 200 years old, and needs constant maintenance to keep it going, so to have such significant damage to deal with on top of that is very disheartening.

At the end of the day, it’s our heritage, and is enjoyed more than ever by the communities around it, but if we don’t take care of it, we’ll lose it. Please, please don’t let this kind of mindlessness cost us such a valuable part of the landscape.

– Mark Evans, Canal & River Trust