The driver of the vehicle disappeared without a trace (Pitcture: SWNS)
Detectives are starting to unravel one of the most dramatic recent mysteries of the Black Country canal system.
A Land Rover Discovery was found on its side half-submerged in a lock on the New Main Line waterway in Tipton on Sunday.
There was no sign of its driver and the lock is next to council-owned land with no nearby roads which it could have swerved off by accident.
The luxury vehicle, priced at around £64,000, is believed to have been stolen from the Staffordshire area, though its owner has yet to be traced.
Canal officials suspect the vehicle was pushed in by hand as there were no hospitalisations or reported injuries linked to the incident.
It is likely that a driver would suffer serious injuries if inside a vehicle which fell several feet onto the hard bed of an empty lock.
A stretch of the canal was closed on Monday while the officials organised a crane to remove the car at an estimated cost of £5,000.
A Canal & River Trust spokesperson said: ‘Yesterday (Sun) we were alerted that a Land Rover car had been driven into Factory Lock number 3 on the Main Line Canal in Tipton.
A stretch of the canal has been shut and will cost £5,000 to open up again (Picture: SWNS)
‘Thankfully, there are no reports of anyone being injured, and we are working on plans to crane the car out of the canal.
‘Following a site visit scheduled for today we are hoping the car will be removed tomorrow (Tue).’
The trust had earlier tweeted: ‘There are no signs of pollution yet but we will continue to monitor.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
The driver of the vehicle disappeared without a trace (Pitcture: SWNS)
Detectives are starting to unravel one of the most dramatic recent mysteries of the Black Country canal system.
A Land Rover Discovery was found on its side half-submerged in a lock on the New Main Line waterway in Tipton on Sunday.
There was no sign of its driver and the lock is next to council-owned land with no nearby roads which it could have swerved off by accident.
The luxury vehicle, priced at around £64,000, is believed to have been stolen from the Staffordshire area, though its owner has yet to be traced.
Canal officials suspect the vehicle was pushed in by hand as there were no hospitalisations or reported injuries linked to the incident.
It is likely that a driver would suffer serious injuries if inside a vehicle which fell several feet onto the hard bed of an empty lock.
A stretch of the canal was closed on Monday while the officials organised a crane to remove the car at an estimated cost of £5,000.
A Canal & River Trust spokesperson said: ‘Yesterday (Sun) we were alerted that a Land Rover car had been driven into Factory Lock number 3 on the Main Line Canal in Tipton.
A stretch of the canal has been shut and will cost £5,000 to open up again (Picture: SWNS)
‘Thankfully, there are no reports of anyone being injured, and we are working on plans to crane the car out of the canal.
‘Following a site visit scheduled for today we are hoping the car will be removed tomorrow (Tue).’
The trust had earlier tweeted: ‘There are no signs of pollution yet but we will continue to monitor.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
