People planning Canal Boat Holidays in the UK this year will be pleased to know that a waterways regeneration project has attracted the support of one of the country's best-loved actors.

Brian Blessed thundered into Sawmills to pick up a cheque for more than £3,300 on behalf of Friends of Cromford Canal, which plans to transform a 17-mile stretch of the waterway in the future.

The cash will be used for a number of projects along the Cromford Canal, including interpretation boards, while the group also aims to conserve the entire area as a historic vale.

'I think canals and waterways are the best way to see the country,' boomed Blessed to the Belper News.

In February, the Friends of Cromford Canal was awarded a grant of £4,000 by the Inland Waterways Association, which will be used to pay for the engineering design of the Pinxton area of the canal.