Boater fined £2,000 for illegal mooring

NOTWITHSTANDING repeated visits by Environment Agency officers, a boater refused to move his boat.

So he was eventually taken to court and fined £2,000 for illegal mooting near Hampton Court Palace on the Thames, Janet Friend reports.

Tom Rhima's boat—known as the 'slumboat'—was discovered to be unregistered for three months in the Summer of 2023.

Without a licence

His boat was moored at a popular Surrey beauty spot without a licence and he was charged with 'failing to register his boat or unmoor from the Thames, near Hampton Court Palace'.

At Staines Magistrates’ Court he pleaded guilty to both charges, with the Environment Agency stating that boats overstaying their welcome on that stretch of river had become a long-running issue with some residents referring to them as 'slumboats', and councillors calling them 'unsightly low grade temporary accommodation'.

This boat was previously reported in narrowboatworld as taking in lodgers in its 10 small cabins at £29 a night in 2016.

At the time it was visited by Environment Agency officers that were accompanied by Surrey Fire and Rescue, who served prohibition notices due to safety concerns, and taped off the entry to the boat.