Watch: We ask Birmingham - Should the government do more to preserve our canals?

Campaigners recently gathered on the canal next to the Mailbox calling on the government to increase funding to help maintain the waterways. I’m here in Birmingham to get people’s thoughts on the city’s iconic canals and whether the government should do more to preserve them.

Anita says: “I think regarding the canals in Birmingham, if you’re local - well I suppose to anybody - they are a great heritage. It’s lovely to walk along, it’s lovely to see. We’ve had friends recently come up from London and they absolutely loved it. It’s like with anything else at the moment. We’re in a cost of living crisis. Where’s all the money coming from? So in an ideal world, yeah, throw more money at it.”

Kelly says: “Okay, so my grand old age - I think that they’re iconic to Birmingham. I think that Birmingham has a lot of bad press, as papers always report. And I think that it’s taken television to actually highlight how good and how historic they are, and the purpose that they were built for and still exist. And they bring tourism to Birmingham, go and look at them. They’re beautiful, but it does need more money investing. It does need more money.”

Grace says: “I work in schools. I’d like to see the money being put into schools and being put into mental health support, and things like that. But the canal system is a lovely part of Birmingham. And obviously it’s really nice for people to be able to go for walks along the canal and things like that.”