HUNDREDS of boaters were left stranded for more than 24 hours after a woman’s body was found in the Oxford Canal.

Police were called to the canal at Shipton-on- Cherwell, north of Kidlington, at about 11am on Tuesday after boaters saw the body in the water.

The canal was then sealed off until early yesterday morning, forcing people to moor up at locks, causing long delays on one of Britain’s busiest waterways.

The backlog of canal boats is expected to descend on the city this morning with Osney Lock anticipating an exceptional number of boats.

Police are not treating the death of the woman found in the canal as suspicious. She remained unidentified last night, although it is thought she was in her late-50s or early-60s.

Specialist search and rescue officers have been investigating the scene.

Canal users told the Oxford Mail that tensions rose during yesterday’s canal closure, with one boat even breaking the police cordon after the owner refused to moor up longer.

Bemused boaters were not told what had happened by polce at the scene and some called the Mail in a bid to find out what was happening.

John and Lynne Shaw were heading from Oxford to Banbury when they were told to stop just south of Thrupp, near Kidlington.

Mr Shaw said: “In all we had to wait for more than 24 hours.

“We were told we couldn’t go any further and discovered the body of a woman had been found in the canal. It was slightly frustrating, but it’s one of those things that you just have to accept.

“Somewhere there is a family missing a relative, so our problems pale into insignificance.”

Mr Shaw added he saw one boat user break the police cordon after getting angry at the hold up.

Barry and Pat McKinnie were on a boating holiday and were forced to stop near Shipton.

Mr McKinnie, 62, said: “We could see other boats had pulled over and one boater said we couldn’t go any further. He told us that someone had drowned in the water and no-one was allowed through.

“We were heading in the other direction but there was a real backlog, so it meant people all over the place were being affected.

“There was not a lot of information and a few people were getting agitated because they were expecting to get to Oxford that day.

“But you can’t blame the police. They were doing their job.”

The Oxford Canal is one of England’s most popular waterways, running from Oxford to Warwickshire.

It was the main waterway from London to the Midlands until the construction of what is now the Grand Union Canal.

A post-mortem examination was due to be carried out yesterday afternoon.