Ellesmere mayor Councillor Ann Hartley and North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson today accused the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of dealing the district’s fragile economy another blow.

This week British Waterways announced plans to axe 180 jobs by April 2007 following severe budget cuts.

About a third of the job cuts are set to come from plans to merge the West Midlands and Central Shires arms of British Waterways, meaning Shropshire could be hit harder than many other counties.

The announcement has brought an angry response in north Shropshire, where towns such as Ellesmere, Whitchurch and Market Drayton rely on the canal network to support their economies.

Councillor Hartley attacked the Government for passing financial shortfalls suffered via the Single Farm Payment scheme to British Waterways funding.

She said: “I think it is absolutely appalling, diabolical, and this will have a terrible affect on Ellesmere as we rely on the canal for tourism.”

She added: “I have been told that if we have another breach in the canal then they won’t be able to mend it either, which would be disastrous as we rely on it.

“North Shropshire has a fantastic network of canals, they are part of our heritage and should be looked after.”

Mr Paterson also cited the Government’s financial ineptitude as being costly for the area, adding: “I have written to the minister at Defra and I am very angry about all of this.”