AT first glance, the Trent and Mersey Canal might not rank alongside the Taj Mahal or The Great Barrier Reef as one of the wonders of the world.

But a team of consultants is aiming to put the canal on a list of worldwide sites which get protection from UNESCO, the United Nations Environmental, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

"This would recognise the important role the canal played in the history of transport and the salt industry in Northwich," explained David Martin of Heritage Associates.

"It was an extremely important channel of communication in the 18th and early 19th centuries before the dawn of the railway age."

Now Mr Martin and his team will try to persuade Heritage Minister Chris Smith to add the Trent and Mersey Canal, which runs through Rudheath, Marston, Anderton and Barnton, to a list of sites he has already put forward.

They are asking Vale Royal Borough Council to support the idea and leisure councils were due to discuss the plan as the

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.