Cambridge college gets a new water feature

Students at a Cambridge University college created a 200m canal to allow them to punt at their May Ball, which is held in June.

Many Cambridge colleges are on the river Cam – but not Sidney Sussex. So 10 undergraduates spent a week building the water feature, which holds 400,000 litres, using scaffolding and plastic lining.

Guests at the Venetian-themed ball could punt along the waterway, which flowed into a lake in the centre of the college. Denver Sheridan, 21, president of the May Ball committee, said: "Other colleges have punting along the river, but we can't do that, so we decided to build our own waterway."