A HAIRDRESSER with a floating salon is hoping she will be able to travel again soon as she is losing business while blocked on the canal.

Joanna Embley, from Burnley, runs her hairdressing business, the Ruff Narrowboat, from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Bridgewater Canal, but is currently trapped in Leigh due to the Wigan Flight being closed.

In the early hours of Monday morning a giant leak on the canal near Rishton led to waterway bosses closing off sections while emergency work takes place and dams and pumps are used to get the level back up.

The hairdresser, who also lives on her boat, was planning on working her way back down to Burnley, however her plans have been scuppered by the recent breach.

Joanna said: “It’s infuriating because I have had clients contact me saying ‘when are you back in Burnley?’ “Now I don’t know. I don’t know when I am going to be able to travel back.

“Because of the Wigan Flight being closed, a lot of people who normally come to me are unable to make their appointment.

“I don’t want to think about how long it could be.”

The 27-year-old relies on her business being able to travel as by working her way up and down the canal, she will get to back to customers for when they need another haircut.

She is hoping that her regulars who are drivers will drive to her while she remains stranded but is conscious that a number of her clients who are also narrowboat owners will struggle to get to her.

She added: “I do kind of rely on the fact that my boat can move.

“Quite a lot of my clients will have a haircut every six weeks.

“I would always plan my clients the best I could but with the breach I can’t plan it anymore.”

Joanna has been running her business since May 2021 and has already got a strong customer base behind her, with many narrowboat owners visiting her for her services in a bid of support.

She said she has seen the photos of three narrowboats which are stranded in Rishton near the breach and feels sorry for the owners who are currently waiting for the water level to rise enough for them to move.