A SIXTY-mile stretch of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal closed today will be shut for at least three weeks in a bid to help reservoir levels recover.

But boat owners fear the sanctions from Lancashire to Yorkshire could last until November.

Canal boats will not be allowed to use locks between Chorley, Blackburn, Hyndburn, Burnley and Pendle.

Every time a lock is used on the canal, excess water is lost.

This water is then topped up from reservoirs.

Locks on the 60-mile stretch from Wigan to Gargrave, near Skipton, were shut today.

Bosses at British Waterways said the levels of reservoir that served canals in East Lancashire was just 10 per cent and the closure would not be reviewed until they are at least 20 per cent full.

A spokesman said: “To get them to 20 per cent would require at least three weeks of considerable rain every day.

"At this time of year, reservoir levels should be at 80 per cent, so it is clear how low they are.”

The closure could have a serious impact for newly retired couple David and Christine Booth, who live on their boat, Toggenberg.

They were the last boat to pass through Top Lock at Wheelton before the closure on Monday.

David said: “We are eventually going to relocate to France and were hoping to get to London by the end of the Autumn.

“This is a big setback as it could delay our plans to get to France.

Sandra Feeley travels on her boat every year from April to October.

She faced a race against time on Sunday to get back to her mooring at Wheelton after holidaying in Wales.

She said: “We were down in Llangollen when we heard about this and had to cut the holiday short.

The reservoirs in East Lancashire that supply the canal are Rishton, Barrowford, Foulridge Upper and Lower, Slipper Hill and Whitemoor.