Reporting an incident, accident or near miss
We want you to enjoy your visit to our canals and rivers, so we work hard to keep them safe and welcoming. Although rare, incidents and accidents sometimes happen. When they do, it’s very important for us to find out as much as possible about these events to help us to continue to keep the waterways safe.
How you can help
You can help by reporting any incident, accident or ‘near miss’ that you've witnessed or been involved in while visiting or using our waterways and towpaths. The information you give will help us to investigate the cause of the problem, minimise the risk of it happening again and where practical, remove potential hazards.
Examples of incidents, accidents or near misses include:
- Witness to damage or vandalism
- Injury or potential injury
- Antisocial behaviour (substance/alcohol abuse)
- Threatening/aggressive behaviour
- Collision in navigation or towpath
- Unauthorised vehicles on towpath
- Unauthorised swimming
- Theft or other criminal activity
The easiest way to report an incident
- Call 0303 040 4040 during normal office hours
- Fill in our incident reporting form. Please provide as much detail as you can, including information on any craft involved or people that could help us if we need to investigate further.
In an emergency
Please do not use this reporting form instead of reporting incidents to the police or in an emergency. See our contact us in an emergency page to see who to contact when it’s urgent.
Last date edited: 23 May 2022