Cheshire's Audlem Locks is one of six locations where a charity is making a plea for new volunteer lock keepers.

The Canal & River Trust has launched a new campaign called 'Join the Daves' to recruit more volunteers to take on the iconic role of lock keeper on some of Cheshire’s canals.

‘Dave’ is the most common name among the Trust’s thousands of volunteers and the charity is appealing for men and women from all backgrounds to join the army of ‘Daves' performing this important task in Cheshire.

Of the many people volunteering for the charity in a range of roles, 130 ‘Daves' give up their time to carry out tasks, such as helping boats through locks, clearing vegetation, maintaining towpaths and teaching children via the charity’s education programme.

Hot on their heels are the ‘John’s, with ‘Barbara’s and ‘Karen’s leading the way among female volunteers.

Jason Watts, volunteer development coordinator at Canal & River Trust, said: “The nation’s canal and rivers go through such a diversity of cities, towns and villages and this is reflected in our volunteers.

"We’ve people from an amazing array of communities and backgrounds, so it was quite interesting to see such an abundance of ‘Dave’s volunteering with us.

“Of course, we’d love to continue to welcome dedicated ‘Daves' and brilliant ‘Barbaras' to our volunteering teams in Cheshire.

"But we would really like them to be joined by new names and faces so that we can do even more in 2019 to ensure the county’s canals are havens for people and wildlife.

To apply for a volunteer lock keeper role in Cheshire or to find out more, visit: www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteer/opportunities