THREE holidaymakers and their two dogs were rescued from their sinking canal boat near Marlborough on Tuesday, after the boat began to take on water rapidly while going through a lock.

Fire crews from Marlborough and Pewsey were called out to rescue the family from Woking on board the boat, which was sinking at lock 54 in Cadley at 11am.

The firefighters were able to rescue two people and two dogs using a ladder secured to the lock wall, but an elderly woman remained on board.

Jason Underwood, District Commander of Marlborough Fire Station, said: "It was a challenging rescue. The boat was in between a lock, with one of the gates open and the boat was sort of sitting close to one side. The water level in the lock was probably about five to six feet deep.

"There were no injuries but one of the ladies has difficulty with walking and couldn’t be rescued like the others using a ladder, so that’s why the specialist crew from Stratton were called in.

The holidaymakers believed to be a couple in their 70s travelling with their daughter, were checked by paramedics after the rescue. The Wiltshire Air Ambulance was called out to help with the rescue of the elderly lady who was trapped on the side of the barge which was rapidly sinking.

Richard Miller, Wiltshire Air Ambulance's Operation Officer, said: "They were very, very lucky. The elderly lady had very limited mobility and was stuck chest deep in rising water on the edge of the barge.

"We threw the lines out to the elderly female and myself, Ian Pothecary and Fred Thompson got on to secure and move her to the roof of the barge."

The specialist team from Stratton then used a banana boat to rescue the woman in her 70s from the sinking barge and put her on dry land further down the canal.

Despite not having any injuries, the family were wet and cold after the rescue and the mother and daughter were taken by ambulance to Salisbury District Hospital to be checked out.

The boat was hired from ABC Boat Hire in Aldermaston and had already successfully negotiated more than 40 locks along the canal before running into trouble at the lock near Wootton Rivers.

ABC Boat Hire was unable to provide any information on its clients when contacted by the Gazette this week.

The canal was closed after the sinking, and the water was pumped out of the sunken barge, which was underwater up to its roof, later that afternoon by workers from River Canal Rescue. The Canal & River Trust, which manages the canal, said it understood the accident happened when the narrowboat got caught on the lock's sill. The canal was reopened to boaters on Tuesday evening.

Mr Underwood added: "From the end of May until June 5, Marlborough Fire Station will be raising awareness of boat safety, with firefighters cycling up and down the towpath talking to boat users about general boating safety."