More than 100 people lined the banks of the Wilts and Berks Canal on Monday to celebrate the official opening of the latest stretch near Pewsham.

After years of hard work from committed volunteers, the once abandoned and overgrown canal has now been restored to a standing water habitat, suitable for canoes and dinghys as well as a towpath for walkers and cyclists.

Before taking a boat ride down the canal, Chippenham MP Duncan Hames cut the ribbon to officially open the new waterway.

He said: “It just shows what volunteers in the community can achieve. None of them were paid yet real skill has gone into this.

“There has been a variety of work from the engineering and construction to the fundraising and social activities.

“It just shows that the Big Society has been around in Wiltshire long before us politicians started talking about it.”

The canal was first built in 1819 but after losing trade to the emerging railway network it was abandoned in 1914.

The Wilts and Berks Canal Trust, which has more than 2,500 members, has been working to restore the canal and connect up sections as and when they become available.

Trust chairman John Laverick said: “This is really the work of the Melksham, Chippenham and Calne branch. They are a terrific bunch of people and it has been their project.

“I like to think of this as another jewel on the necklace.”

“This is not just about boats. It is a new standing water habitat which is ideal for wildlife. In many areas in the UK we are losing standing water habitats but here we are creating them.

“There is also a nice, flat towpath which provides good access for all and a nature trail.

“The waterway isn’t yet connected up to the rest of the network but it’s perfect for people to come and take their canoes or rubber dinghies out on it.”

Wiltshire Council canal officer Ken Oliver said the canal was the ideal habitat for the endangered water vole, made famous by Kenneth Grahame’s Ratty in Wind in the Willows.

He said: “This is a facility that will be used by local people.

“It is also about wildlife and providing a perfect habitat for the water vole which is an endangered species.”