It's such a shame. Mind you what do you expect??!! You wouldn't drine an open topped car through Belfield, well not unless you were a drug dealer anyway so same difference.

   I am surprised at the British Waterways comment. It is well known in the canal community that boats using the canal from Rochdale to Manchester need to be accompanied as violence and threats are commonplace.

The canals are abused by drug dealers and cider swigging thugs.

They are often seen as a fancy backdrop for regeneration projects as the building reflections look good in the artwork.

The overpaid executives that are involved in such regeneration aspirations often don't live in the area so don't care what happens after the cheques have been cashed.

Ironically. the Rochdale Development Agency now know a little more about the troubles by the canal since they had to move into their Lock 50 speculative office investment after no proper tennants could be found for the £2 million+ project that wasted a lot of Rochdale Council taxpayers' cash.

Look at popular, prosperous and picturesque northern canal basins that draw tourists and push out the antisocial elements- Skipton, Hebden Bridge, Manchester.

What did those visionaries planning Rochdale's regeneration do with our canal basin? Fill it in. It is buried under the empty old tin sheds at the top of the bombed out sections of Drake Street.

If it wasn't so sad people would laugh at the mismanagement of Rochdale .

Lets do something simple. Zero tolerance. Sort out both the yobs and the senior executives that have taken so much of our hard earned money and squandered it.