THE Manchester Ship Canal is being used as a major haulage route for the first time in decades.

Tesco is using the canal to transport wine from Liverpool to a Manchester bottling plant.

The green initiative is now running three times a week from a container terminal at Liverpool to the Irlam container terminal 40 miles up the River Mersey and Ship Canal.

Barges that carry up to 160 20ft containers will make the journey three times a week.

Tesco distribution director, Laurie McIlwee, said: "Other businesses have merely discussed switching over to transporting their cargo by waterway one day but we're actually doing it.

"This move will be like taking a step back to the pre-car days of the late Victorian era - when a lot of cargo was still transported by canal - but is a step forward in helping to address today's important environmental issues.

"We are continually reviewing alternative green methods of transporting cargo and this is our first waterborne project within the UK. We are already looking at other areas where we can move freight on waterways."

The shuttle service is operated by Manchester based Seaborn Container Line.

The director of the Trafford Park-based Centre for Church and Industry, Kevin Flanagan, said: "The Ship Canal Company and Tesco are to be congratulated on this new development and I hope other producers will also look at similar measures."