TikTok car-fishing craze leads to closure of ancient Rufford ford

Council steps in after videos on social media turn Nottinghamshire river crossing into viral tourist attraction

Deep in the English countryside is an ancient river crossing that has been used, in various forms, for at least 1,000 years. It featured in the Domesday Book, attracted Cistercian monks who built an abbey nearby, and more recently served as a handy shortcut for Nottinghamshire commuters. But Rufford ford has now been closed, after clips of cars driving through it attracted hundreds of millions of views on TikTok.

That ford has been there since Adam was a lad," said Neil Clarke, a local councillor. He decided to close the crossing this month after requests from the fire and police services, who were unable to cope with a small rural lane becoming one of the most famous roads in the world.