'I fear another canal disaster' - Daughter of elderly Rugeley couple issues renewed appeal after Shropshire canal incident

A woman who is campaigning on behalf of her elderly parents who fear their home next to a canal in Rugeley will be washed away says she fears a disaster "on the scale of Shropshire".

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Lynne Jefferson has been watching events unfold on the Llangollen canal at Whitchurch where emergency services dealt with a hole appearing along the waterway, causing large volumes of water to escape onto land and leaving boats grounded.

Further investigation found it was embankment failure caused by erosion of the 200-year-old pathway not built to withstand large volumes of water, and Lynne she fears her parents' house, in Rugeley next to the Trent and Mersey Canal, as well as others are at risk.

Linda Jefferson is asking authorities to take 'urgent action' to protect homes  - including her parents' - from flooding on the scale of the recent Llangollen canal incident
Lynne Jefferson is asking authorities to take 'urgent action' to protect homes - including her parents' - from flooding on the scale of the recent Llangollen canal incident

The Express & Star reported a month before the incident in Whitchurch how Eileen and Cyril Clew's property in Lockside View suffers from constant flooding from boats using the turning point and churning up water to the point where fencing and wooden shuttering is being "washed away".

The canal bank along the Trent and Mersey Canal adjacent to Eileen and Cyril Clews' home
Overgrowth along the embankment of the Trent and Mersey Canal in Rugeley close to Eileen and Cyril Clews' home