Funding fears over removal of invasive canal plant

Concerns that an invasive species could take over a canal in Worcestershire are being made worse by a lack of funding to deal with it, a councillor and canal campaigner says.

Karen Lewing, a Green councillor who co-chairs the Worcester Canal Group, said floating pennywort was starting to grow across the Birmingham Worcester Canal in the Arboretum area of the city.

Removing it was "expensive and time-consuming" and the Canal and River Trust needed more funding, she said.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the trust received £52.6m annually to help maintain inland waterways.

"It's a really invasive plant and a huge problem nationally," Ms Lewing said.

"It grows really rapidly in the summer where it's sunny and warm and can grow up to 20cm (7.9 inches) a day which is incredible.

"But the problem is it swamps the waterways, blocks the water flow, can crowd out native plants and takes oxygen from fish and insects."

The plant can grow very quickly and swamp waterways

The pennywort, native to Central and South America, was brought to the UK in the 1980s as an ornamental pond plant.

It forms dense mats which choke waterways.

Growing so quickly from "the tiniest fragment" was a real concern given the warmers summers the UK has been experiencing, Ms Lewing added.

"Therefore it makes it expensive and time-consuming to get rid of," she said.

The Canal and River Trust, which looks after 2,000 miles (3,219km) of waterways in England and Wales, was due to see its funding reduced by £300m from 2027 under a proposal from the previous Conservative government.

A spokesperson for Defra said: "We recognise the wide range of benefits that our inland waterways bring, and the Canal and River Trust receive an annual grant of £52.6m to support their maintenance and development.”