The 230-tonne Wye Invader, a 38-metre long barge, remains stranded in Symonds Yat East.

The huge craft may now be staying indefinitely with river levels not expected to rise in the foreseeable future.

Skipper Frank Barton was taking the barge down the River Wye to have repairs done in Bristol but the journey ground to a halt at a section of rapids.

The water there is now too shallow for the Invader to get through following a £1 million project which saw huge boulders installed in the river to create better rapids for canoeists.

"This trip is definitely more challenging than when we came up 22 years ago because there are so many more obstacles," said Frank.

"We're going to need three and a half feet more water before we can get going again.

"There's no telling when we will get the right weather but it won't be for a few weeks, at least."

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