Towpath like living in the middle of Tesco

PEOPLE living by the Kennet & Avon Canal around Bath say that living by the towpath is like the middle of Tesco such is the number of visitors.

One resident, Nina Marie, who lives by the waterway in Bathampton, took the trouble to count the number of people passing by her door by the towpath on Thursday and reached 3,700 in total, Telling BBC News:

Impossible to keep distance

"The paths are far less than two metres wide. It is literally impossible to keep distance.  The paths should be open only to those who live there."

Boaters too are very worried about all the thousands of people now using the towpaths to exercise, with Leb Landymore, who is moored near Bradford-on-Avon telling:

"We want some protection.  We're literally a metre away from the actual path so we're that close to the public, coming out and exercising."

Another boater described the towpath  as a 'hotbed of virus transmission'.

Response not encouraging

The response from Canal & River Trust was not at all encouraging, its spokesman stating it is 'following government guidance and had advised people using towpaths not to congregate, keep moving and strictly observe social distancing'.

It maintains 'it was neither practical nor desirable to close stretches of them'.

This shows little regards for the health of its customers, and an organisation that is ultra fond of erecting notices—that it already has, as the one shown—that it could very easily erect, stating that the towpath is closed in an effort to minimise the spread of coronavirus.

Or does it really care?