A WATERWAYS war looks set to break out after a new group was set up and announced plans to restore part of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal system.

For the old established Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal Society knew nothing about the new group until the news was broken to them by the BEN.

And the man behind the newly formed Fletchers Canal Society is Steven Parker - the enthusiast who founded the original MBB society.

The creation of the new Fletchers Canal Society means two separate groups could be battling for the same funding to restore parts of the same canal system.

The new society will work primarily on the former Fletchers Canal at Clifton but has said it will also try and bring the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal back to life.

It is a move which is set to send ripples through the MBB society who are struggling to attract the funds they need to bring the semi derelict canal back to navigable standard.

Mr Parker, who lives in Peabody Street, Great Lever, and studied canals as part of his university degree, was the leader of a small team of restoration enthusiasts who set up the MBB society, which is now run by Smithills couple John and Margaret Fletcher. But Mr Parker has declined to say whether the new society is the result of a rift.

Margaret Fletcher of the old society has also refused to comment. But she and her husband expressed surprise when the BEN told them of the press release announcing the birth of the rival society. The restoration of Fletchers Canal is not part of the MBB society's plans but will be the primary aim of Mr Parker's group.

But he pointed out that his new society - of which his wife Katherine is chairman - would have to restore part of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal because Fletchers Canal links to it.

Fletchers Canal, which opened in 1791, is one and half miles long, terminating at the former Wet Earth Colliery, Clifton just over the Kearsley-Clifton border. It had one lock and became disused in 1935.

He said that to restore one and not the other would ultimately prove "counter-productive".

And in a move that could be seen as a firm bid to stamp its authority on the MBB society, Mr Parker's new society plans to start an archive filled with information and photographs of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal as well as Fletchers.

Mr Parker said: "Our main aim is to restore Fletchers Canal but we will also restore part of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal because in the long term it will be necessary.

"I wish the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Society all the best. Just because I am on one committee doesn't mean I can't be involved in another group."

Mr and Mrs Fletcher said they would not comment until they had fully explored the situation and its implications for their publicly funded group.

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