Abandoned houseboat being cut up over safety fears

Disposal work is expected to last eight weeks

Disposal work has begun on a large houseboat that was left abandoned in a quay over health and safety fears.

The Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk said the Tosca barge on Boal Quay in King’s Lynn had suffered a number of recent fires and that children had been seen playing on it.

The boat was last used in 2013 when a woman was rescued from it during a tidal surge.

Demolition work is expected to last eight weeks.

"Like many I am sorry that the Tosca barge, which has become something of a local landmark, must go," said independent councillor Bal Anota, the cabinet member for property and corporate services at the council.

The Tosca is a former houseboat which has not been used in ten years

The council said it had appointed a contractor to "cut-up" the boat, with parts, which are thought to contain lead, being taken to a specialist disposal centre.

"We’re going to keep the site as safe as possible," added Matthew Henry, the council’s assistant director for regeneration and property.

"We don’t want any sharp metal left there."

While the work is carried out, a footpath that passes around the back of a car park at Boal Quay will be shut.

The council said a diversion was in place.