A BOAT has sunk in a lock in Middlewich and there are fears that the steerer could be inside.

The boat, which has not yet been identified, was found submerged in lock 74 of the Trent and Mersey at Middlewich, at around 8am today, Friday, with no sign of the steerer.

Firefighters were called to search the boat for the missing person and used feeling sticks but nobody was found.

Engineers are now working to pump the water out of the boat which could take until this evening.

Jeff Smith, from the Canal and River Trust, who is leading the operation to rescue the boat, said: “The fire brigade poked around and were very thorough and they found nothing so that is promising.”

“We now have to get the water out of the lock and then pump the boat, and then we can have a proper look.”

The most likely explanation to the boat sinking is that the boat caught on the cill of the lock.

Greg Williams, from Middlewich Narrowboats, said: “It’s unlikely that there was a hole in the boat and the lock has just been renewed so the steerer must have cilled the boat.

“There were a lot of cans of lager floating about so it suggests they had been drinking.”

This comes just hours before the start of the annual Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival and boats are currently queuing on the canal being held up by the sunken boat.

The incident is the second of its kind in recent times after a boat sunk in the same lock in December.

The incident in December proved to be due to a leak in the lock and millions were spent on the lock in March to fix the fault.