– now at weekends too

From 14th July, boaters are able to get in touch with the CRT customer service team seven days a week. The team will respond to enquiries from 8am—6pm, Monday to Friday, 9am—5pm on Saturdays, and 10am—4pm on Sundays. You can get in touch with the Trust to report an incident or to let them know about any non-urgent prob­lems you have, or have come across, by calling 0303 0404040, tweeting @CRTcontactus com­pleting and emailing the web-form or chatting live at canalrivertrust.org.uk/contact-us/ways-to-contact-us. Examples include low or high water levels, damage or vandalism, fly-tipping or animal carcasses, unlicensed or speeding boats, or facility breakdowns (e.g. water point, pump out).

In an emergency, call 999 and, when you have received a response from the emergency services, inform CRT on its 24-hour emergency number (0800 47 999 47). This type of emergency is, for example, when lives are at risk (including serious injury, illness, fatality, need for rescue help, fire or explosion on a boat), or to report a crime.

Also call CRT’s emergency number when a situation is urgent (but be aware that staff will make a judgement based on the severity of the incident and do not always ask an on-duty staff member to respond directly). Examples include a seriously damaged lock, bridge or tunnel, a boat trapped in a dangerous situation (e.g. on a weir or in a lock), serious flooding or a breech that risks lives or property.

To report environmental pollution (including dead fish or fish gasping at the water surface), call the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60.