'Large amount' Mariners shut off from Preston Marina as dock blocked by Storm Boelo floating debris

A large amount of floating debris collected during Storm Boelo means Preston’s marina is temporarily inaccessible to mariners.

A statement on the Preston Marina Facebook page said: “Due to the high winds from Storm Boelo over the past few days , combined with high spring tides, there is a large amount of floating debris in the river which has collected outside the lock gates for Preston Dock - in the entrance channel and the area known as the ‘bullnose’.

“This has made access to and from Preston dock and therefore Preston Marina temporarily unavailable.

“This is something that does very occasionally happen as a result of these exceptional wind and tide conditions and the debris should naturally disperse again, once the tides start falling and calmer weather returns.”

During the winter season, which officially began on October 1, Preston lock gates are able to be operated at every tide when High Water (Liverpool) is between 0700 and 2000 local time (or sunset, whichever is earliest) The lock gates can open from one hour before Liverpool High Water to two hours after.

Preston’s dock is actually the old basin of the Ribble . Workmen dug a whole new channel for the river away from its original northern course (where the A583 Riversway runs now), lined it with stone, then diverted the river down the new route before remodelling the old riverbed as the dock.

On July 17, 1885, the dock's foundation stone was laid by Queen Victoria's eldest son, Albert Edward the Prince of Wales, after whom the basin is named.

A special bridge over the old river bed had to be erected at the bottom of Pedder Lane to allow spectators access to the ceremony.

Seven years later on June 25, 1892 the docks were officially opened by Prince Albert, the Duke of Edinburgh, who arrived in the dock on the open bridge of a steamer and declared the new dock open by sailing through a blue ribbon which had been placed across entrance to the main basin.

A crowd of 10,000 people watched the opening and there was a flotilla of small boats and pleasure craft on the Ribble.

It was the the largest single dock in the country with water area of 40 acres when it first starting welcoming ships from the Ribble.

At its peak of activity—with 1968 being the busiest year on record recording 3,558 vessels—the docks employed roughly 300 staff members alongside 300 registered dock workers, with thousands more relying on it indirectly