The Environment Agency’s warning on Tuesday 11 August lands with a blunt message for towns along the Nene: stop tampering with locks, sluices and other control gear. Area manager Ben Thornely said staff were ‘disgusted’ by the damage, warning that it is not only vandalism but a direct safety risk on waterways already under pressure from a hot, dry summer. (gov.uk) At Ashton Lock near Oundle, one of the hardest-hit spots, vandals damaged the winding wheel, forcing its removal for repair. A temporary fix was then stolen, and the guillotine gate was tampered with as well, draining water needed for navigation and for wildlife further along the channel. (gov.uk)

In another incident at the same lock, a life buoy and its rope were taken from a safety station, the rope was used to tie open the lock doors, and the guillotine gate was wound up, sending water upstream out of the pound. The Environment Agency says that has happened repeatedly and has been reported to police. (gov.uk) It is the sort of damage that can look minor from the towpath and turn serious very quickly once levels begin to fall. The agency says people have also tried to break into control panels, climbed on guillotine gates and jumped into locks where hidden machinery and currents leave little room for error. (gov.uk)

For Oundle and the villages around Barnwell, this is not just about broken kit. The Environment Agency says the worst-affected stretch is between Upper and Lower Barnwell locks, while Oundle Marina describes itself as a long-standing boating base on a 22-acre waterside site, which gives a fair sense of how many regular users depend on steady levels and working infrastructure. (gov.uk) Thrapston Town Council puts it plainly in its own river guidance: the Nene supports wildlife, local communities, recreation and wellbeing across Northamptonshire and beyond. When vandals wind paddles or prop gates open, that harm does not stay at the lockside; it carries on to boaters, walkers and volunteers along the river. (thrapstontowncouncil.gov.uk)

The list of places affected shows how wide the problem has spread. The Environment Agency says incidents have also been reported at Northampton Town Lock, Whiston Lock, Billing Lock, Upper and Lower Wellingborough, Irthlingborough, Denford, Nine Arches Mooring, Lower Barnwell, Elton and Alwalton. (gov.uk) That matters because the Nene is not a spare bit of leisure infrastructure. It is a working corridor used for navigation, habitat management and everyday local life, and in a dry spell it takes much longer for dropped levels to recover. (gov.uk)

The water backdrop is already grim. In its June 2026 local water summary, the Environment Agency said Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire recorded 48mm of rain in the month, 82 per cent of the long-term average, with only 7.2mm falling after 16 June. Over the previous three months the area had 56 per cent of average rainfall, making April to June the fifteenth driest such period since records began in 1871. (gov.uk) There is also a point worth being precise about. DEFRA and the Environment Agency said on 29 July that half of England had moved into drought, while Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire were then listed in prolonged dry weather; the vandalism notice published on 11 August linked the warning to drought conditions in the area. Whatever label officials settle on, the local picture is clear enough: soils are dry, river flows are slipping and reservoir stocks have fallen below target curves. (gov.uk)

In Lincolnshire, the pressure is being managed with heavy public infrastructure. The Environment Agency says its Trent Witham Ancholme River Transfer Scheme can move the equivalent of 60 Olympic-sized pools of water a day if needed, supporting more than 100 abstraction licences relied on by water companies, farmers, industrial users and other abstractors. (gov.uk) That helps explain why local patience is wearing thin. Public bodies are pumping, monitoring and in some cases limiting abstraction to keep water moving, only to see crews sent back out to replace stolen gear and reset damaged structures. (gov.uk)

The agency says it is responding with volunteers at Great Ouse sites, CCTV at some locations, links to council control rooms, and extra safety inspections. It is also asking people to report vandalism or antisocial behaviour to police and to the Environment Agency’s incident line, while councils along the river have their own routes for reporting antisocial behaviour and pollution. (gov.uk) The safety advice is old-fashioned for a reason. The Environment Agency says people should not jump or dive into inland water, should keep clear of locks, weirs, pipes and sluices, and should remember that even on hot days cold water and boat traffic can turn a summer dip into an emergency. On the Nene this month, the most useful local rule may be the simplest one: leave the controls alone. (gov.uk)