Felixstowe Ferry crabbing banned as people 'get too close'

Crabbers on the Bawdsey bank of the River Deben, pictured before the ban was imposed

The children's pastime of catching crabs on lines from jetties has been banned at a river harbour because people were not social-distancing.

The owners of the Felixstowe foot ferry in Suffolk said they were forced to apply for the council ban on safety grounds.

"It is a working jetty and crabbers were not obeying the Covid restrictions," the operator said.

The ban applies to crabbing on both sides of the River Deben.

Felixstowe Ferry harbourmaster John White agreed that crabbers on pontoons and jetties were often too close to passengers and those working the boats.

The pair said passengers queuing for the crossing were observing the two-metre social distancing rule, but some crabbers were not.

The ferry operator applied for a ban which was granted by Suffolk County Council, which said it had been imposed on safety grounds.

The mouth of the River Deben, traditionally a location for children crabbing, has a foot ferry connecting the hamlet of Felixstowe Ferry with Bawdsey

On the BBC News: East of England Facebook page, reader Fred Smith posted the news about the ban in response to a story published earlier this week about claims that "aggressive" crabbers further up the Suffolk coast in Walberswick were also flouting social distancing rules.

Sue Cooke, whose children often visit the jetty at Felixstowe Ferry, wrote: "It's such a shame. Generations have been crabbing there."

Walberswick (pictured before the lockdown) has been home to the British Crabbing Championships