Press release: 6 unregistered boaters ordered to pay more than £4,300

6 boaters are counting the cost after they’ve been ordered to pay more than £4,300 for flouting the law on East Anglian rivers.

They failed to register their vessels, and the Environment Agency is warning other boaters not to do the same or they, too, could face fines, fees and even criminal convictions.

Boat owners are legally required to register any vessel they keep, use, or let for hire on Environment Agency waterways, and to clearly display a valid registration plate.

But Angela Quinn (South Road, Brandon, Suffolk), Jack Hawksbee (Coronation Avenue, Whittlesey, Peterborough), John Day (Riverside Mead, Stanground, Peterborough), Lewis Burton (Church Street, Great Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire), and Alan Gamble and Michael Paris (both of Upware Marina, Ely) all failed to do so.

All the cases were proved at Cambridge Magistrates Court on 25 April.

Ms Quinn was ordered to pay £904, Mr Hawksbee, £869, Mr Day, £496, Mr Burton, £470, Mr Gamble, £1,106 and Mr Paris £495 in the next 28 days.

It brings the total of avoided registration charges recouped by the Environment Agency so far this year to £110,000 – money which will be reinvested into maintaining, improving and protecting waterways.

Nathan Arnold, waterways team leader at the Environment Agency, said:

Our waterways are part of our nation’s rich heritage and beauty, and they contribute to our environment, economy and health and wellbeing.

But boaters who break the law by not registering their boats are putting the future of these historic and precious waterways at risk – so we won’t hesitate to take action against them.

As well as not contributing their fair share towards the upkeep of waterways, unregistered boats can be unsafe, hazardous to other river users and a pollution risk to the local environment and wildlife.

The Environment Agency looks after 353 miles of navigable waterways in the Anglian network, which includes the Ancholme, Black Sluice, Glen, Welland, Nene, Great Ouse and Stour, as well as associated locks and navigation facilities like slipways, moorings, showers and toilets.

More information about boating and waterways, including registering vessels, is available from the Environment Agency. If you suspect a boat is illegal, please contact the EA on 03708 506 506 or email waterways.enforcementanglian@environment-agency.gov.uk.



Press release: 6 unregistered boaters ordered to pay more than £4,300

The Environment Agency is reminding boaters that not registering their vessels is breaking the law



Press release: Rory Stewart comments on IDC report into use of UK aid to tackle climate change

Commenting on the publication of the Commons International Development Committee’s report on the use of UK aid to combat climate change, Secretary of State for International Development, Rory Stewart, said:

We are facing a climate cataclysm. One million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. We need to take radical steps or we – and our planet – will face an irreversible catastrophe.

The ice shelf is shrinking, oceans are rising and global carbon emissions are increasing. This is before we even count the cost on humans.

This report by the International Development Committee published today makes for sobering reading. We need new ways of working and a new direction. We need a wholesale change.

As International Development Secretary, I want to put climate and the environment at the heart of what this government does to protect our planet for future generations. I would argue spending 0.7 per cent of our gross national income on aid makes a difference, not just to the developing world, but to the UK as well.

I want to see more of UK aid budget spent on the environment, particularly on research and development. As climate extremes worsen, it is the world’s poorest countries and communities which will be most affected, but this is a global issue. The aid budget should be spent on British research that could cut emissions in the world’s biggest polluters, including China and India, to help.

Tackling climate change is not only the right thing to do. It is a very smart thing to do.

We all breathe the same air as people in China and India and tackling issues like climate change matters to us all. The UK cannot solve such problems alone.



Press release: Rory Stewart comments on IDC report into use of UK aid to tackle climate change

Statement from the Secretary of State for International Development on the publication of Commons International Development Committee report.



Press release: Ethical directors banned after withdrawing millions in contested tax scheme

Directors of a company offering Costa Rican plantation investments banned after withdrawing millions in tax from a scheme they knew was being investigated by HMRC.