DROITWICH Canals Trust is hoping to push the boat out when it holds its annual open day on the restored lock flight at Hanbury Wharf.

Free boat trips will once again be available on the community vessel Pamela May through the top two locks on Sunday, October 9.

There will also be information stands about the trust and the £11m project to restore the barge and junction canals, establishing a 21-mile cruising ring.

An extra feature of the day will be free canoe taster sessions sponsored by Sport England, which will be available between 11am and 4pm.

Margaret Rowley, chairman of Droitwich Canals Trust, said: "The open days have proved very popular, and the canoes are another example of how restored canals provide different leisure opportunities for local people.

"We are inviting people to come along on the day and find out what is planned."

The Canals Trust has promised to make the locks available for navigation at least once a year until the whole length of the Droitwich Canals are restored in 2009.

This is now a step further after the confirmation of £3m funding from regional development agency Advantage West Midlands.

This grant, announced in June, is in addition to promised funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Wychavon District Council, and Worcestershire County Council, and takes the trust ever closer to the total needed for the project.

The Hanbury locks, which are still operational, are of particular historic interest because they show the operation of a sophisticated water conservation system that was developed towards the end of the canal age, before freight transport switched to rail.

The restoration has retained historic features, including the original brickwork, and replicas have been put in where original fittings have been lost.