Protest in vain

RESIDENT boater Ian Gill, who has lived on his boat for the past 15 years on the Kennet & Avon Canal without paying any mooring fee whatsoever is complaining bitterly now that BW has caught up with him.

He has been moored along the same stretch of waterway for all this time, moving just up and down a small area, but he has had his licence revoked by British Waterways for not fulfilling his commitment to move the required distance. He complains:

"There is nothing in the rules and regulations to say how far you have to move—only that you have to move every 14 days. They have told me to go to Trowbridge or Devizes but that is too far for me to be able to cycle back for work."

His reason for not moving is that he is 'concerned about the environment and there are a lot of boats burning diesel up and down the canal.'

Of course, he is part of the great problem for British Waterways, of boaters taking advantage of a continuous cruising licence to avoid paying mooring fees, yet being unwilling to adhere to the rules.