Unlicenced boats on the Thames

NO MATTER how tough the Environment Agency is on boaters that flaunt its rules, there is still the problem of unlicensed boats on the Thames.

The areas around Windsor and Maidenhead are particularly prone to unlicenced boats, with even local residents now complaining that the boats are 'spoiling one of the prettiest stretches of the Thames in Berkshire, with even  Windsor and Maidenhead Council members complaining, Alan Tilbury reveals.

Moored illegally

Boats are moored illegally on the banks that are the council's property, particularly around Boulters Lock, and the residents want the agency to remove the boats.

Councillor Simon Dudley tells that people in Maidenhead are 'totally fed up with the way these boats, some of them apparently abandoned, are ruining a beautiful stretch of the Thames'.

However, there are many boats on the Thames that do not have the necessary permits, notwithstanding the agency's occasional efforts at prosecution.