Record-breaking tunnel opened to canoeists

Gordon McMinn (pictured) said the canoe trips were a "once-in-a-lifetime bucket list opportunity"

The UK's longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel has been opened to canoeists for the first time in its 200-year history.

Standedge Tunnel runs for 3.5 miles (5.6km) under the Pennines between Marsden in West Yorkshire and Diggle in Lancashire.

The Canal & River Trust charity is offering guided canoe trips through the tunnel over the summer.

Volunteer Gordon McMinn, from the trust, said the trips were "a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list opportunity for keen canoeists".

Standedge Tunnel, pictured at the Marsden end, is the longest, highest and deepest tunnel in the UK

Dubbed one of the seven wonders of the waterways, Standedge Tunnel took 17 years to dig by hand.

A Canal & River Trust spokesperson described it as an "extraordinary feat of engineering".

Sean McGinley, the trust's regional director for Yorkshire & North East, said the tours had been introduced because the charity was "working harder than ever to keep our historic 250-year-old canal network alive".

"This experience is one of the many ways people can help support our work, contributing to the vital funds needed to help us maintain our 2,000-mile network of canals and assets, while discovering this amazing treasure under the Pennines," he added.

Gordon McMinn, pictured at the tunnel's Marsden end, described the structure as "remarkable"

A total of 18 one-way paddle trips would be offered between June and August for either two people in a tandem canoe or solo paddlers, with a fee being charged, the trust said.

Mr McMinn said the trips would give participants "a real sense of this remarkable tunnel".

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