People taking Canal Boat Holidays in the UK have learned that a charitable trust has been established to safeguard the future of a much-loved South Lakeland canal.

Land management company NPL Estates has officially announced the formation of the Ulverston Canal Company to ensure the location is maintained as a leisure facility so that people can go on taking Canal Boat Holidays there, the Westmorland Gazette reports.

Simon Towers, managing director of NPL, told the newspaper: 'We are setting up a ring-fenced trust that will guarantee that the canal will be maintained.

We feel this is a very positive statement.

'We are looking to put the focus back on the canal as a community asset so it is a very exciting time.

'Believed to be the deepest, straightest and widest canal in the UK, the Ulverston Canal was created in 1796 to create an access point for Ulverston and once served as the starting-point for boats going to Liverpool, London and Scotland.