Sort the stoppages notices out—please!

THE policy behind Canal & River Trust stoppage notices is to inform boaters.

To notify them when stoppages occur so that boaters then have a chance to attempt to make alternative arrangements to avoid being stranded.

So unreliable

But stoppage notices nowadays are so unreliable that boaters tell us they despair, an example this week when the trust either 'forgot' or did not properly arrange the stoppage at Hillmorton on the Oxford Canal, leaving many boaters stranded and being told they were stuck until the middle of December.

It was only the outcry, headed by narrowboatworld that had the trust urgently release the boats later today—most likely in the dark as one boater told—and issue an alternative stoppage notice—but even that was 24 hours late.

Many complain

Time and time again we have pointed out the misleading information in stoppage notices that many boaters complain to us about, and even this morning the trend continues with a notice of the stoppage on the Lee Navigation at Old Ford Lock, as shown, and is absolutely ridiculous:

Type: Advice
Reason: Repair

Original message:

The lock is out of order, teams will investigate and repair.

Lock is operating

All this is in addition to the atrocious misspelling and typographical errors that so badly reflects on the 'trust'.