Car crime is not really our main beat and it’s weird to have two in one day, but every now and then you see something on Twitter it’s difficult not to share. Case-in-point, someone allegedly stole a Land Rover and thought they’d dump it in the nearest body of water without possibly realizing how shallow that body of water actually was.
The Tweet comes courtesy of the nice folks at the Canal & River Trust West Midlands, who are responsible for maintaining the network of canals that weave through this part of England. As they explain on their website:
Across the West Midlands 520 miles of canals weave their way through richly vibrant and culturally diverse communities. Around 1.75 million people live within 1km of the waterways and just over half of Birmingham’s population are within walking distance of their local canal.
Wow! Depending on how you measure it, Birmingham alone has more canals than Venice. If you’d have asked me how deep these were I’d have guessed about six-to-eight feet and I’d have been wrong by about half. According to this website they’re about four feet deep, which is confirmed by this Land Rover Discovery (L319) on its side.
Factory Lock No 3 on the New Main Line Canal in #Tipton is closed as a car is in the lock. We’re working on a plan to get this removed as quickly as possible. There are no signs of pollution yet but we will continue to monitor. @ExpressandStar pic.twitter.com/O1422Jns0D
— Canal & River Trust West Midlands (@CRTWestMidlands) November 14, 2022
This wasn’t some strange driving accident but, instead, the BBC reports that vehicle is “thought to be stolen” and the thief (or thieves) drove up to the side of the canal and pushed it in, causing the canal system to have to shut at that point. The Discovery 4 has a wading depth of about 28 inches, but it probably wasn’t rated on its side.
The people who run the canal system, understandably, aren’t happy about it:
The Canal & River Trust said a crane would be used to lift the Land Rover out on Monday afternoon at a cost of about £5,000.
It said the situation was “really frustrating”, but so far there was no sign the water had been polluted.
It is frustrating.
Works have started to lift and remove the vehicle that was dumped in factory lock 3 in Tipton. @CRTWestMidlands @ExpressandStar @ITVCentral @sandwellcouncil pic.twitter.com/KcqutzPZN9
— Lee Bates (@CRT_Lee) November 14, 2022
Don’t dump cars in canals!
Update: The Land Rover has been removed. I repeat, the Land Rover has been removed.
The vehicle has safely been recovered from the water.
Very minimal damage to the lock & environment.
Oils & fluids from the vehicle have been contained within the lock & a team are dealing with it accordingly. @CRTWestMidlands @ExpressandStar @ITVCentral @sandwellcouncil pic.twitter.com/dgfIQA63yD— Lee Bates (@CRT_Lee) November 14, 2022
Photo via Canal & River Trust West Midlands