Why barges were left high and dry
A number of canal boats were left stranded as water levels plunged on the River Avon after a sluice gate failure.
Barge owners had to be rescued by fire crews on Tuesday night near Lock 6 on the Avon near Lower Bristol Road, in Twerton.
Parts of the river dried up along a lengthy stretch of the Avon due to an Environment Agency sluice gate failure around 6pm.
Bath resident Callum Bristow posted a video on Facebook that said it seemed a boat was sinking near the pedestrian bridge between Lidl and Station Road at around 7.45pm.
The Environment Agency said its workers closed the gate and were working to manage the restoration of the river levels.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: “The Environment Agency sluice gate at Twerton, Bath, suffered a mechanical fault last night (September 15) which resulted in a significant drop to the river levels along the River Avon and Kennet and Avon canal.
“We have a team on site and the gate has now been closed and is working in manual operation. We are aware of a number of boats being impacted by the river level drop.
“We are working with the Fire & Rescue service, the Canal & Rivers Trust and other partners to manage the restoration of the river levels in the most effective way.”
Other boats sank as a result of this incident.
A message on the Canal & River Trust website read: “Please be advised that due to mechanical failure of the Environment
Agency sluice gates at Twerton the water levels between lock 6, Weston Lock and Lock 7, Bath Bottom Lock are currently dropping rapidly.
“The Environment Agency has been informed and their engineers are on the way to the site. However we are advising customers not to navigate. The emergency services are in attendance.
“If you are in immediate danger please contact 999.”