Actor's boat vandalised

THE cruiser belonging to actor Richard Cordery was broken into, its interior wrecked then set adrift at a canal centre on the Basingstoke Canal.

Richard, who is currently appearing in the adaptation of Roald Dahl novel Esio Trot with Dustin Hoffman and Dame Judi Dench, has been left with his cruiser, that was moored at the Mytchet Canal Centre, needing thousands of pounds to put right after the damage that vandals caused, Alan Tilbury tells us.

No basic measures

He tells that he was astonished the centre, operated by the Basingstoke Canal Authority, didn't have basic measures such as security lighting or CCTV. He moored his boat at the newly-refurbished canal centre in August, and expected it to be kept safe, but after one of the rangers helped him patch-up the boat he moved it to the nearby Potter's Inn and terminated his contract with the centre.

He now intends to return to his former moorings at Stratford-on-Avon, where his boat was moored for 10 years without incident whilst he was performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Boards over windows

Of the Mytchet Canal Centre, Richard told that alarm bells started ringing when he saw other boats on the canal with boards over the windows. The vandals ripped the canopy and used a fire extinguisher to smash in the door to gain entry where they damaged the interior and stole various items.

Spokesman Councillor Keith Chapman, explained that staff were aware of two boats being broken into at the Mytchett mooring recently, and informed the police.