Boat owners fined as Thames crackdown continues

One boat owner was fined £1,800, said the Environment Agency

Boat owners have been fined more than £63,000 in the last year, amid an ongoing crackdown on unregistered vessels in the River Thames, the Environment Agency (EA) has said.

The government body said in December 2023 it discovered 125 vessels without registration during spot checks at Penton Hook Marina in Surrey.

A quarter of the boats in the marina were unregistered which it said was "unacceptably high levels of registration evasion".

Boat owners have since been prosecuted, with the EA announcing on Wednesday that three more had been slapped with fines.

'No love for unregistered boats'

One boater was given a £1,800 fine, which the government body called a "stark warning".

The EA said every owner caught up in its December 2023 operation was traced and given ample opportunity to register their boats correctly.

Colin Chiverton, EA environment manager, said: "Our enforcement officers have no love, secret or otherwise, for unregistered boats on the Thames.

"They're out all year long patrolling the river, checking valid registrations and taking action against those who cheat their fellow boaters."

Mr Chiverton warned the agency would bring further offenders to court.

The EA said boat registration fees allowed it to manage and maintain more than 600 miles of inland waterways across England.

It likened the fee to excise duty for cars.