Major incident declared as 50-metre-long breach opens up in waterway previously flagged as ‘amber risk’

A man has told of his narrow escape after waking up just in time to raise the alarm as his canal boat and those of others were swallowed by a fast-appearing giant hole.

Emergency services declared a major incident after the 50-metre-long crater – initially described by emergency services and other agencies as a sinkhole – breached the Llangollen canal in England’s West Midlands, leaving boats teetering on the edge of a steep drop or stuck at the bottom of the cavity.