The Waterways Ombudsman investigates complaints about British Waterways in England and Wales (until 1 July 2012) and the Canal & River Trust (from 2 July 2012). That includes complaints about their subsidiaries (such as British Waterways Marinas Limited – BWML).

The Ombudsman is independent and impartial, and can make recommendations for action.

The Ombudsman can only consider complaints which have already been considered under the organisation’s own complaints procedure.

The Waterways Ombudsman no longer considers complaints about canals in Scotland. That is now the responsibility of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. Their website is at http://www.spso.org.uk.