Emergency services declared a major incident in Shropshire in the early hours of Monday morning after a large sinkhole opened up on a canal, swallowing narrowboats in a scene witnesses compared to a disaster movie.
'Horrendous sight' as boats plunge into breach
The incident was reported at 4.22am on Monday 22 December 2025 along the Llangollen Canal near the New Mills Lift Bridge in the Chemistry area of Whitchurch. A significant breach in the waterway created what was described as a massive sinkhole, approximately 50 metres by 50 metres in size, causing huge volumes of water to flood onto the surrounding land.
Footage from the scene captured the terrifying moment a narrowboat plunged into the hole amid the sound of cracking wood. Another vessel was filmed stranded at the bottom of the cavity with water rushing past, while a third was said to be left hanging precariously over the edge.
Phil Johnson, 56, who lives on his boat, described waking to "cracking and banging" before witnessing the chaos. "I saw the water flying past the boat at horrendous speed," he said. "I went and had a look and was greeted by the most horrendous sight of seeing this boat stuck in the breach at the bottom, being basically flooded."
Eyewitnesses describe 'disaster movie' scenes
Mr Johnson recounted watching a second boat "teetering on the edge" before it slowly fell into the hole. "It's awful to say but it reminded me of that horrible scene from the Titanic film," he stated. "When the back goes down and the bow comes up, and it finally just slid into the hole. It was horrible." He described it as "one of the scariest things of my life," adding he was "frightened to death" his own home would tip over.
Another narrowboat owner, Paul Smith-Storey, 58, said he and his partner were woken by a "big crash". "We could hear a massive roar of water," he explained. Upon investigating, they discovered the "massive sinkhole with a boat at the bottom of it." He noted the frightening power of the event, stating the steel boats weigh around 17 tonnes. "It felt like a disaster movie, especially when that boat dropped over the edge," he said.
Mr Smith-Storey revealed they had nearly moved their own boats to the exact spots where the vessels were swallowed the previous day. 12 people from nearby moored boats were helped to safety by emergency services.
Emergency response and ongoing aftermath
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, along with other emergency teams, attended the scene. Fire service area manager Scott Hurford said it was "extremely fortunate" no one was injured during what he called an "unusual" incident. He praised the narrowboat residents for recognising the danger as the water level dropped and beginning their own evacuation before raising the alarm.
"We are used to flooding," Mr Hurford said, "but not necessarily from the canal network." He also highlighted the luck that no one was walking on the popular towpaths at that moment.
The Canal & River Trust confirmed six boats near the breach site are now stranded without water. Chief executive Campbell Robb said their teams had been on site since the early hours, securing the area and assisting owners. Accommodation has been arranged for those, and their pets, unable to return to their boats. The trust hopes to refloat the affected vessels in the coming days as recovery work continues.
