October 25, 2019 12.27 pm This story is over 53 months old

Wat-er pickle! Local heroes free barge from Lincoln canal

It was a morning to forget for this skipper

It started off as a morning to forget for one skipper, before onlookers managed to free his wedged barge from a canal in Lincoln.

Mister Sweep was wedged behind another moored up barge just outside of the Waterside Shopping Centre for about an hour on Friday morning.

Some at the scene described how they heard an “almighty bang” at around 10am before turning and seeing how the barge was stuck.

No argy bargy please. Photo: Connor Creaghan for The Lincolnite

High water levels and a strong river flow made it even more difficult to back out.

The skipper tried to free himself but just could not manage to do it and nobody could find the owner of the moored up barge in front of him.

A crowd started to gather on either side of the water with some offering to help.

Eventually, the skipper handed out some rope to the onlookers, and with a big tug from around seven people the barge was finally free.

The crowd clapped and the skipper cheered as he set off on his journey down the canal once again.

Steve Ashforth also took a picture of the predicament on ‘You’re Probably from Lincoln If’.