The canal in Manchester will be gated off at night to prevent more tragedies

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However, the police and council bosses remain insistent none of the deaths are suspicious, saying they were all accidents or suicides.

An extra 20 bodies have been found in nearby rivers and in the 12-months from August 2010 a third of all deaths in UK waterways were in the Manchester area.

A shocking 61 bodies have been pulled out of the waterway in Manchester in just six years , causing experts to fear a serial killer, dubbed "The Pusher", is to blame.

Canal death boy left to drown for 'five minutes' before police...

If you go in that canal, you have no chance of coming out alive

But in a victory for victims' families, the Council has agreed to shut off a "lethal" stretch of canal to prevent any further tragedies.

In the last two years the area to be locked off has claimed five lives.

The Undercroft, near the Rochdale Canal, will be locked from 10pm to 7am.

The moves comes after police told town hall bosses the Undercroft is a hotspot for drug dealing, "lewd" behaviour and muggings.

And a report to planners reveals Manchester's coroner is still concerned about the number of drownings along that stretch.

Pat Karney, the city centre's spokesman, told the Daily Star Sunday: “It’s been a very complicated legal and consultative process but at long last the gates will be going up soon on the canal.

“The moment they go up they will start helping to save lives.

“We have tried everything else and this is a huge step forward.

“If you go in that canal, you have no chance of coming out alive.”