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Her parents "left home before we did", she says, describing how they bought a canal boat in retirement leaving the children with the family home.

Fully electric canal boats remain rare and expensive, and probably have to depend on backup diesel generators to power the engines.

UK-based travel agencies also offer stag weekends in Amsterdam, including canal boat cruises with unlimited booze, "steak and strip" nights and red light district pub crawls.

And we hear from one man who moved to a canal boat to protect himself.

Next week, retired bus driver, Carol Jackson, 66, from West Sussex, and her husband, Chris, are due to begin a "dream trip" - sailing their canal boat through France and Spain to Portugal.