It didn't float

SLIPWAYS are usually used to launch boats, but the one at Bingley served a different purpose—to 'launch' a JCB.

But alas it did not prove to be amphibious, so eventually after various attempts to get it out of the water, a lorry was brought in and a hawser used to put the JCB back on to dry land, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Great interest

The whole procedure proved to be of great interest to the many onlookers who had gather by the Leeds & Liverpool Canal to watch.

It is not known how the machine came to be in the water, only that it rolled down the slipway, creating something of a splash!