Chesterfield Canal Trust has been forced to cancel its cruises after the Environment Agency has issued a Hand Off Flow notice.

Chesterfield Canal cruises will be cancelled until further notice, from Sunday, May 11 due to a dry weather spell.

This comes after the Environment Agency has issued a Hand Off Flow notice which means that water from River Rother can no longer be used to top up the canal.

In a statement issued earlier today (Friday, May 9), a spokesperson for Chesterfield Canal Trust said: "The canal gets its water from the River Rother just south of Tapton Mill Bridge.

Cruises on John Varley II from Tapton Lock and on Madeline from Hollingwood Hub are cancelled until further notice.

placeholder image — Cruises on John Varley II from Tapton Lock and on Madeline from Hollingwood Hub are cancelled until further notice.

"As you will be aware, there has been very little rain for two months, so there is not much water in the canal. The Environment Agency has issued a Hand Off Flow notice. If we ran boat trips using locks, the water would very soon drain away.

“Therefore, we very much regret that from Sunday May 11th we will not be running any cruises on John Varley II from Tapton Lock, or Madeline from Hollingwood Hub until further notice.

“Trips on Hugh Henshall and Seth Ellis are not affected because the canal in Nottinghamshire gets its water from other sources. Paddlesports hire is not affected because they don’t use the locks.”