Moorers upset anglers on the Thames

Published: Friday, 17 December 2010

ANGLERS on the Thames around Teddington and Staines are so upset at moored boats that they have threatened legal action against the local council.

The Thames Anglers' Conservancy claim that the council is failing to prosecute boaters who moor without authorisation on the Thames, believing that around 50 boats are moored without authorisation between Teddington and Staines, preventing its members from fishing.

Threatened Court action

The association has threatened to take Richmond Council to Court for not enforcing byelaws and depriving anglers of their enjoyment of the river, claiming that other councils had successfully prosecuted the boaters.

Richmond Council however states it does not have the powers to take action to move the moorers, but are seeking such powers from the government  to create a byelaw to deal with the problem.

Unauthorised

The authority, having no official moorings on the Thames, believes that any boat that moors is  deemed 'unauthorised'.

A spokesman for the Thames Anglers' Conservancy stated that around 30 boats had been mooring without authorisation on the Richmond stretch of the river for more than three years, leading to tension between  local residents and boaters.