Oxford closed yet again

THE Oxford Canal was closed yesterday, Tuesday, by a lock balance beam breaking off.

The beam on Lock 17 of Claydon Flight broke off with the flight now closed to navigation, Keith Gudgin reports.

Terrible condition

The flight is in a terrible condition, with badly leaking gates, as seen in the photograph, and paddles not working and has been the subject of many stoppages over the past few years since subjected to Canal & River Trust's method of maintenance.

That particular beam was seen to be in a poor condition but nothing was done about it during the winter stoppages.