Major incident declared over canal 'sinkhole'

A big incident has been reported in Shropshire over a sinkhole, causing boats to be either stricken or teetering along the edge of a drop. Photographs suggest that the structural integrity of a stretch of waterway in Whitchurch has completely disfigured, prompting flood fears. Two narrowboats on the scene were reported to have sunk into the hole shortly after 04:00 GMT, with two more on the edge. Water seems to have drained completely. It was responding to a landslip, and the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said a canal had been affected.

Crews received reports about a canal bank had collapsed and large volumes of water had flooded nearby fields, according to Scott Hurford, area manager for SFRS, which sent 50 firefighters. There are no reports of casualties on the scene, in a Whitchurch suburb called Chemistry, according to West Mercia Police. People were asked to avoid the area and seek alternate routes, according to the police. The Canal and River Trust referred to the incident as a breach of the canal, and said that the highest priority was to ensure boaters and those in the immediate area.

We're starting our investigations into the possible origins of the leak and will have more information in due course,

the company said. "We will also try to restore water levels on either side of the incident as soon as possible and are assisting the boaters affected and those in the immediate area both directions of the attack.

The information we've received back is that the canal bank failed,

Mr Hurford said on BBC Shropshire, and that's what caused the emergency call.

The water from the canal has leaked out of the canal into the surrounding fields, and there are up to 15 people who have been forced to be evacuated, and a number of canal boats have been affected, some of whom have been sent into the field and others are at the bottom of the channel.

Our job is the response phase,he said,We're here to save life, protect property, and the climate, but we will help during the recovery process.

We've got two boats at the bottom of the sink hole that have broken down, and we've two boats teetering on the edge that could go in at any time,

Andy Hall, a Whitchurch councillor, told the BBC.

Obviously [the fire service is] going to make those people safe.

Peoplebelieved there was an earthquake, he said.

We've got the field, but it has taken about a million gallons of water out of the canal.

He said the fire service had installed a flood gate to prevent more water from flowing from the flooded waterway.

The most important thing is that the canal itself has been protected by fire and rescue,

he said.

They were concerned that the canal would burst even more and flood the town.

No one was on board the two boats that went down, he said, adding that people on the boats teetering over the edge had been aided to safety by fire crews. Despite rumors on social media, he said there was no bridge failure.

About 04:20 this morning, I could sense something wrong, there seemed to be a current coming from underneath the boat, and bubbling seemed to have been very strange,

Lorraine Barlow, who lives on a boat named The Singing Kettle and was moored near the site, said. "I was tilting to the middle of the canal, and I could tell the cords were getting tight.

She said she left the boat and that she could see the fire service as well as search and rescue teams. There was no water on the canal, she said.