SPECIAL measures have been introduced to help boaters navigate a stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in East Lancashire.

Disinfected pads are being placed next to locks along the canal enabling people to navigate the full stretch.

And locks and swing bridges in infected areas are being manned during the day.

Restrictions on closing the whole towpath were lifted last week but in high-risk areas, particularly a stretch between Feniscowles Bridge, Blackburn and The Top Lock pub, Wheelton, it remains closed.

Staff from British Waterways are manning the locks and bridges.

A spokesman said: "We believe it is better for the locks to be manned by one person rather than many people getting off the boat in one day.

"These conditions apply only where the canal runs through an excusion zone, restrictions have been lifted in urban areas and in some areas where there is a lower risk."

Audrey Smith, a former national chairman of the Inland Waterways Association and member of the North Lancashire and Cumbria branch which takes in the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, said the pads were there purely for boaters.

"They have been placed there for people to get off the boat and work the locks without the fear of spreading foot and mouth disease. I think this is a great idea and enables boating to carry on without endangering people's livelihoods."

The pads and lock-keepers are likely to remain in place for the forseeable future, until the crisis has passed.

A British Waterways spokesman said: "At the moment, boating is one of the safest modes of transport around and we want to keep it that way."