Commenting on the plans to turn British Waterways (BW) into a National Trust-style charity, Unite National Officer for docks and waterways Julia Long, said: "We have real fears that the vital maintenance work that is needed on the network will be forced to rely on the efforts of volunteers to fill gaps left by qualified engineers, if enough funding is not found .

"Caring for this 250-year old working heritage spanning reservoirs and locks requires intense management and significant funding, yet year after year central government funding has only been enough to fund 90 per cent of the urgent work. It is simply not appropriate to hand over essential infrastructure maintenance to volunteers.

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"BW maintains the 2,200 mile canal network in the UK so this news is very disturbing, as it increases the level of flood risk to the homes, offices and buildings along the banks of this network.

"Unite therefore calls for the government to provide some guarantees that there will not be a wholesale cull of the workforce and that there will be sufficient employed, skilled staff to prevent the potential devastation which would be caused if, for example, just one of the banks gave way."

The water network provides a system £65 million worth of drainage from fields as well as leisure and environmentally-friendly freight transport. Half the population lives within five miles of a canal or river and an incredible 13 million people use them every year as part of their everyday life - as a short-cut to work, walking the dog or simply taking time-out and watching the boats.

BW provides 1,800 jobs involved in managing a portfolio including 1,654 locks, 54 tunnels, 3,115 bridges, 417 aqueducts and 91 reservoirs.

(CD/KMcA)