British Waterways crack down on unlicensed boat owners.

Posted on November 11^th 2009

British Waterways will be spending the next 2 weeks cracking down on boat owners without the proper licence as part of their annual national boat checks. They have already seized 70 unlicensed boats this yeas as part of their crack down, they either sell the vessels as a debt collection or if the value of the boat is not great they will simply be crushed.

British Waterways manages an average of 2,200 miles of canals and rivers in the UK and rely on the money made from licences to maintain and improve towpaths, locks, bridges and dredging the canals. It is a legal requirement for boats to have an up to date licence in order to use the canals and rivers, failure to comply with this will result in seizure of the owners boat if they refuse to pay to outstanding charges.

Simon Salem, managing director of British Waterways said: "A small minority of licence evaders still exist and we will be working extremely hard over the next fortnight to make sure we know who they are and where they are, so we can take the necessary action."

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