If you have ever wondered what lies beneath the waters of the Leeds Liverpool Canal, this photograph taken in 1992 gives you an insight.

A major clean up and repair scheme was in operation when our photographer went along to a stretch of the canal which runs through Grimshaw Park in Blackburn.

The excavator is sitting on the canal bed ‘dredging’ silt which had built up over the years.

You can see the thick stone lining which kept the canal water tight.

The whole section near to the Asda supermarket had to be drained to allow the work to be carried out - a pump can be seen in the foreground which prevented too much water filling up the canal while work was carried out.

As well as accumulated silt, the operation also involved the removal of tons of rubbish which had been dumped into the canal which had opened in 1810.