Land Rover found dumped in Black Country canal is lifted out of lock by crane
A car that caused a stir when it was found dumped side-on in a Black Country canal lock has been craned out by specialists.
The presumed-stolen Land Rover Discovery was discovered on its side with broken windows and surrounded by debris at the bottom of Factory Lock number three, near to Furnace Parade in Tipton on Monday morning.
Tyre tracks and broken glass could be seen around the lock and there was a small amount of fuel leaking out of the back of the car into the water.
Fire officers and canal officials took stock of the scene throughout the day. Soon after 7pm on Monday, Lee Bates of the Canal & River Trust said that the car was safely lifted out of the water with "minimal damage" to the lock and surrounding area.
He said: "Oils and fluids from the vehicle have been contained within the lock and a team are dealing with it accordingly."
The impact of the blockage on canal users was severe, with boats being held up throughout the day.
Area operations manager for Wolverhampton and Walsall Aaron Atwal said earlier in the day: "It's going to affect the canal and its users and I feel absolutely disgusted by it as we've tried to enhance the waterway and the navigation of the network for our users and then we come across something like this, which is just idiotic behaviour.
"It doesn't just affect our users as it also impacts wildlife and while we're lucky that there's not much diesel coming out of the car, it's going to have an impact on the wildlife and biodiversity of the area."
The canal area runs adjacent to Furnace Parade, with woodland and a grass verge, and there were visible tyre tracks on the road leading up to the canal path, along with some damage to the wooden posts.
A local woman, who didn't want to be named, said she had seen the car going over the area on her CCTV camera and another car driving up the road with full beam lights on.
She said: "I saw the car go over the posts around 5.25am, as you can see they are damaged, and the next minute, I heard a loud bang, which I assume is from the car going into the canal, then saw another car come up the street just after with full beams on and over the bridge.
"It's not the first time I've seen something like that happen around here as I think this is an area of high crime, as my car windows have been smashed, and there's a lot of anti-social behaviour around here, so I'm not even surprised about this."
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "We were called to Factory Road in Tipton shortly before 6am this morning following reports a vehicle had driven into a canal.
"Our colleagues from the fire service also attended and following checks of the vehicle and the lock no-one was found.
"The vehicle was believed to be stolen from the Staffs area."
