MINISTER for tourism Dr Kim Howells will travel to Wiltshire to visit the Kennet and Avon Canal on September 22.

Dr Howells will be the guest of British Waterways, the public corporation which runs 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, including the 87-mile, 200-year-old Kennet and Avon Canal.

He will begin his visit with lunch at the Barge Inn near Devizes before visiting Pewsey Heritage Centre.

The Kennet and Avon Canal Partnership's five-year £29.24 million renovation programme, backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is one of seven major projects being undertaken by British Waterways over the next 18 months.

The project, which is due to be finished in December 2002, will bring an estimated £28 million a year into the local economy, creating 2,500 jobs.