THE River Weaver needs dredging from Anderton Boat Lift all the way to Barons Quay in order to boost tourism to Northwich, a councillor has said.

Cllr Sam Naylor was speaking at the July 4 meeting of the town council, adding how the action would benefit the world-famous landmark as well as Northwich itself.

“I’ve been saying this for many years now,” said Cllr Naylor.

“There is such a massive need to dredge the Weaver all the way from Anderton to Barons Quay.

“That would open up the river to so many more crafts and boats, including the iconic steamship, ‘The Danny’.”

Cllr Naylor attended a task force meeting last week at Anderton Boat Lift and said he hopes to be able to persuade The Canal and River Trust to invest some money in what would likely be an expensive and time-consuming concept.

“There is talk of getting access to £5 million worth of funding to upgrade what is one of the jewels in Northwich’s crown,” he said.

“What I’m trying do is trying to persuade the Regional Director there to open up the river basin.

“If they dredged it from the boat lift down to town bridge it would allow those river craft down.

“That would then encourage other boat trips to visit the town centre.

“It would then mean the town is an attractive destination.

“He can see the common sense of doing this as it would also mean people can get to the boat lift much easier from the likes of Barons Quay.”