A new £22m canal project has opened in Merseyside.

The scheme re-establishes an historic connection between Liverpool’s currently underused South Docks and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, opening up the city’s waterfront to the previously untapped leisure and tourism industry thriving along Britain’s 2,200-mile canal system.

For the first time in over a century, the 30,000 boats on Britain’s inland waterways will be able to navigate the current 127-mile Leeds & Liverpool Canal straight into the heart of the city,

The previous connection from the South Docks to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal was abandoned early last century when the Three Graces were built over the dock. The Three Graces are the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building.

British Waterways said that the new 1.5-mile canal link will generate 200,000 visitors annually, resulting in an additional tourism spend of £1.9m.

Robin Evans, chief executive of British Waterways, said: “The construction of the Liverpool Canal Link is a further boost for the renaissance of the nation’s inland waterways.

“Given that Britain’s canal system was pretty much viewed as a lost cause, and was actively being filled in and maligned during the 20th century, it’s remarkable the way that the waterways have been reinvented for the 21st century and that we’re still building canals today.”