VANDALS who have attacked repair works on Huddersfield Narrow Canal have been labelled as “mindless”.

Their efforts, discovered yesterday morning, mean that a £300,000 repair project will cost even more and take more time.

The vandals have jammed lock gates on a stretch from Slaithwaite down to Linthwaite.

That has caused some stretches to drain dry but others to overflow, damaging the canal towpath.

Engineers who had been working on replacing lock gates at West Slaithwaite had to spend many hours yesterday trying to put right the damage.

David Baldacchino, waterways manager for British Waterways, said: “It is a sad fact that some irresponsible people have been carrying out destructive acts of vandalism on our work sites along the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.

“We are currently spending more than £300,000 in the area, in order to improve and upgrade some of the locks along the canal and this kind of mindless damage not only delays the project but also adds additional cost which, as an organisation, we can ill afford.

“I would ask local people to be vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour to the police.”

British Waterways staff had spent several days removing fish from the canal and relocating them to other stretches unaffected by the repair work.

It is not thought any fish were killed by the vandals, but canalside vegetation has been washed away.

The towpath repairs could mean sections of the path, popular with walkers, will have to be closed in the coming weeks.

The repair project is intended to ensure that the canal will be fully open to navigation from April onwards.

Engineers are replacing several sets of lock gates with custom-made equipment and are doing the work in the quiet winter period.

But there are fears that the vandalism will mean the work will take much longer to complete, with sections of the canal having to be refilled after the water flowed away.