Still no remedial work on lock protrusion

BOATER Ken Churchill, who's boat hung-up in Lock 40 on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, asks when is remedial work going to be carried out?

Hung up

It was way back in 2012 that his five months old narrowboat hung up on a protrusion (pictured) on the lock wall and sank, he eventually receiving compensation.

But there is a record of problems at the lock, where the required remedial work has still not be carried out.

In his endeavour to prevent even more boats suffering the same fate, Ken contacted Health & Safety, and was told back in March 2015:

Potential fatalities

'Principally that this (Lock 40) was not a fanciful risk, it involved potential fatalities to vulnerable members of the public, people could not be relied upon to mitigate the risk by following good boating practice, if they knew what that was, or to react appropriately in an emergency situation (i.e. serious wall hang up), and there is a documented history of previous incidents and near misses involving wall and other hang ups on the flight ...’

Lock 40 fails to meet C&RT's Minimum Safety Standard 2.d.3. also C&RT's Adopted and Approved Standard for Pubic Risk Management Pages 66 & 67 both documents state;

'Lock Chambers and Gates must be kept free of protrusions which could cause snagging of vessels'.