Repairs to vandalised Walsall canal lock costing £10,000
'Mindless' vandalism to a lock has cost £10,000 to repair and caused part of the Walsall Canal to be closed for days.
Damage to the balance beams at lock 4 near Birchills Street was discovered last week rendering the Walsall Lock Flight out of use.
It was due to be repaired by yesterday (Thursday) but the Canal and River Trust have blasted the culprits responsible stating the £10,000 needed to carry out the work is money which now cannot be spent on improving the waterways network.
A spokesman said: "This is a totally mindless act and we’re completely baffled why anyone would do this, why would someone treat their local area like this?
"The balance beams are used to open the gates so without them the lock flight is totally out of use, meaning that boaters can’t enjoy the canal or the local shops, pubs and facilities.
"We’re working hard to put new balance beams on and hope to have the flight of locks reopened by the weekend. We’ve also been left with the task of recovering the beams from the water which is no small feat.
"It’s massively frustrating that we’ve had to spend in the region of £10,000 and as a charity that’s money that we now can’t spend on improving the waterways for everyone that enjoys them.
"The incidents have been reported to the police and we would urge anyone with any information to come forward."
Boaters in the area have been advised they can use the Tame Valley Canal and Rushall Canal or the Birmingham Mainline Canal to Wolverhampton continuing on to the Wyrley and Essington Canal.
