The towpath alongside the Shropshire Union Canal in Chester City centre has been re-opened after temporary barriers were set up to protect the public.
The towpath was closed by Cheshire West and Cheshire Council (CWAC) in September after a routine inspection of the Roman walls found fractured and loose rock on the steep cliff face which could fall and possibly injure anyone using the towpath below.
The Trust were about to start carrying out remedial work to the rock face when work had to be stopped after nesting ducks were discovered, and since then have been urgently seeking a way of re-opening the towpath.
Now temporary barriers have been installed to create a ‘safe zone’ to keep the public away from any possible loose rocks and work will resume later in the year when the nesting season has finished.
Sally Boddy, regional engineer with the Canal & River Trust said: “The ‘safe zone’ means that the towpath can be re-opened and people using it are safe from any possible loose rocks. This is a popular and well used towpath and we have been keen to get it re-opened as soon as possible.
“Discovering the nesting ducks meant that we were unable to carry the work out as planned because it is illegal to disturb nesting birds, but by putting barriers up we have now been able to re-open the towpath until we are able to carry out the work later in the year when the nesting season is over.”
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