A VOID HAS CLOSED Lapworth Lock 9 on the North Stratford Canal.

LapworthFlightThis has appeared behind the lock wall, Keith Gudgin reports.

It is not yet known how serious this is as engineers have not yet visited the site.

They will do so today, Monday, to assess the situation and undertake necessary safety measures, that could possibly mean the lock will remain closed until it is repaired.

Long time to repair

Voids tend to take a long time to repair, with the recent one on a Worcester & Birmingham Canal lock closing the navigation last February owing to the void, yet it only reopened when it was completed in August.  (The picture shows the Lapworth Flight.)

This was due to the work on the wall and discovery of a void that took the work so long to complete, it was told at the time.