Canal bank breached and homes flooded after pipe collapse

A canal bank has been breached, flooding two homes, after a pipe carrying water underneath it collapsed.

The Canal and River Trust (CRT) said it was responding to an incident on the Llangollen Canal at Hampton Bank in Shropshire following the collapse of the pipe, known as a culvert.

A CRT spokesperson said its team along with infrastructure partner, Kier, were on site and had closed the affected section of canal. The trust added it was carrying out emergency works to slow the flow of water into a neighbouring field.

According to CRT, two nearby properties have also been affected by flooding.

The spokesperson added: "We know this will be a distressing time for those affected. Our teams remain on site and in direct contact with the residents, providing support and assistance while we work as quickly as possible to bring the situation under control.

"Investigations are underway to establish the possible cause of the collapse, and we will provide further details in due course."

Water company United Utilities said there was no impact on water supply.

Mark Durham, principal engineer at the CRT said a "huge amount" of water had left the canal unplanned.

It happened on the opposite side to the towpath, and the breach was contained fully by 13:30 GMT.

He added that there will be an investigation into the cause.

"Our first priority, though, is the residents and ensuring their safety and comfort."

Durham said pumps were being installed as well as pipework and added that the breach in Whitchurch last year was very different.

"The failure at Whitchurch was an embankment failure; this is a culvert... there's nothing to suggest they're linked in that sense," he told the BBC.

He said the CRT was looking to reopen the closed section of the canal as soon as possible.

"It's over 200 years old, and it's a great challenge to maintain that, but with a really good response team… we can rise to that."

Stephen Court, who runs YouTube channel Court Above the Cut and ambassador for the CRT, said he believed the culvert had been blocked and teams had been jetting it in order to clear it.

"They pulled the camera out and the leak started," he told the BBC.

He said teams managed to plug the leak on Thursday, but in the evening "things slowly got worse".

"At about five o'clock, the bank started to sink slightly, and by 11 o'clock it collapsed and there was a breach into the fields."

"The canal was built 220 years ago, and the problem is the material is very sandy and soily, as soon as water touches it, it washes out.

"I think years of underfunding has pushed the CRT, and they're struggling to maintain what they've got, and of course that means preventative maintenance doesn't get done as much as they want to."

He added: "These things are going to keep happening if funding doesn't increase."

Describing the scene, he said a cofferdam had been set up along with stop planks at each end of the affected stretch of water.

"Just to the far side of the canal, there's a load of tarpaulin where they've tried to stop this from breaching and the canal bank has collapsed above the culvert, and sunk down into the culvert," he said.

"I heard there was about a foot and a half of water in that field."

The breach comes after a major collapse on the canal in Whitchurch nearly 11 months ago, which saw millions of litres of water cascading onto nearby land and left boats swallowed up in a deep trench.

In January, CRT said repairing the wider damage to the site would be a "huge project costing several million pounds".

Liberal Democrat Councillor Sarah Marston said the CRT was supporting the people affected in nearby houses, along with Shropshire Council.

"We're on site along with the CRT and liaising directly with those households to offer all the assistance they need," she said.

"They have made the canal safe at the moment and there's no immediate risk."

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