ONE of the oldest structures on the Wilts & Berks Canal is to be restored to its former glory by volunteers.

The aqueduct tunnel one of the first two structures built for the canal in the 1790s took the waterway over a brook on land at Forest Farm to the north of Melksham.

However, a four-metre section at one end of the tunnel collapsed around 100 years ago and stonework at the other end has also started to fall away in recent years.

Now the Melksham branch of restoration group, the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust, has applied for planning permission to rebuild the missing section and repair the other part using original stonework.

Branch chairman Colin Fletcher said it was hoped the work could be done in July.

The £3,000 project will involve temporarily diverting the brook so footings for the new section can be put in.

Mr Fletcher said: "The work will benefit the canal in the end, although it will probably be five-10 years before it is open again."