A husband and wife who supply fuel to boats on the Bridgewater Canal have warned that their business could soon become "unsustainable" because repairs to a collapsed embankment near Little Bollington in Cheshire have still not begun, the BBC reports.

The canal burst its banks during heavy rain on New Year's Day 2025 near the village, blocking what is considered England's oldest canal still in use. Dams were installed either side of the collapsed section and most of the canal was refilled in early 2025, but vegetation, including small trees, has since taken hold in the dry cutting between them, close to the Dunham Massey estate.

Kerry Dainty and Liam Hewlett run Midlands and Coast Canal Carriers Ltd from Preston Brook near Runcorn, delivering gas bottles, logs, diesel and coal by narrowboat. Their boat previously travelled almost the full length of the canal to Leigh and along its branch into central Manchester.

Liam told the BBC they have had to start using a second narrowboat to reach customers on the other side of the breach, while pleasure boaters have been "very scarce" since the collapse. Kerry said: "If nothing changes there's nothing we can do – this just isn't sustainable." She said the couple had received very limited communication from the canal company and its owner, Peel.

Narrowboat owner Dave Prunty, who was moored nearby when the embankment gave way, told the BBC the repair had taken "far longer than it should". The breach also severed a sewer, and until earlier this year sewage from Little Bollington had to be taken by tanker each day to the treatment works on the other side of the canal.

What the canal company says

The Bridgewater Canal Company, which is owned by Peel Holdings, did not reply to the BBC's requests for comment. Repair work had been due to begin in August, but in an update that month the company said construction would start "slightly later" than anticipated while it awaited reviews and responses from utility providers and the Environment Agency. Managing director Peter Parkinson said: "While we had hoped to begin construction in August, there are a number of technical and statutory requirements that need to be resolved before works can safely commence."

In its latest update, dated 30 September, the company said contractors had begun returning preliminary tenders, with the rest due by the end of October 2026. It described the breach as "an incredibly complex site", citing a high-pressure fuel main, multiple gas mains, a main river, protected species, a working farm and United Utilities infrastructure. It said more than £650,000 had been spent so far on stabilisation works, design and procurement fees, and that it remained committed to restoring navigation "as soon as practicably possible".

An access road to the breach site is being built, but no date has been given for the start or completion of the repair.

Sources: BBC News; The Bridgewater Canal Company (September 2026 update); The Bridgewater Canal Company (August 2026 update). This article was produced with the help of AI tools and checked by an editor against the sources above.