A STRETCH of Stourbridge Canal ran dry this week after a boater left one of the locks in Wordsley open.

Late last Wednesday (July 8) evening, members from the Canal & River Trust were alerted to the drained 50 metre area outside the Red House Glass Cone.

Staff from the trust who were sent to the site on Thursday morning, discovered the problem was not vandalism, but one of the lock gate paddles had just been left open.

It took a number of hours for the canal to be opened back up as the dry section had to be filled by water gradually released from upstream.

Ian Darby, from the trust, said: “Late Wednesday evening we were alerted that a section of the Stourbridge Canal had been drained between locks 12 and 13.

“The next morning we sent a team over to the canal to see what the problem was, raise the water levels and reopen this small stretch of canal as quickly as possible.

“Once on site, we checked over the locks to make sure that they hadn’t been vandalised and, on closer inspection, found that one of the lock gate paddles, which help control the water levels on the canal and act a bit like a plug, was left open by a boater passing through the locks which caused this 50 metre stretch of canal to drain down.

“In order to refill the canal we had to push water down from further up the lock flight into the drained section of canal and I’m pleased to say the canal is now back open.”

The water which was drained by the lock being left open did not cause any damage to the surrounding areas or other sections of the canal.