Choppy waters for Thames river boat-owner
Hefty fine issued for failure to register Abingdon vessel
Coxed in. Abingdon boater Trevor Cox had to shell out almost £600 in a fine, costs and the registration fee he skipped. Much cheaper to just register.
A boat-owner from Gainsborough Green in Abingdon has been convicted of failing to register his boat for use on the River Thames.
Environment Agency officers discovered Trevor Cox, of Gainsborough Green, had no legal registration for his 4.4m vessel, Zimalda, moored at Wilsham Road, during routine checks. They attached a warning notice to the boat in August last year, requiring him to comply with the law within 14 days.
It is a criminal offence to keep, use or let for hire an unregistered vessel on a waterway.
A month after the first visit, the Environment Agency wrote to Cox after officers found the boat had been removed from its moorings and was still unregistered. The letter warned him to register the boat inside a week or enforcement proceedings would begin. A navigation enforcement officer also spoke to him on the phone in a call where he stated he wouldn’t pay the fee.
Oxford magistrates’ court was told riverside inspections by officers revealed Cox had skipped the annual £92.94 fee, determined by the length and width of the boat. Including costs and surcharge, he was required to pay a total of £574.94 - more than six times as much as the registration fee.
Colin Chiverton, an environment manager at the Environment Agency, said:
We were as patient as we could be with Cox, who flat-out refused to pay a fee that goes straight towards the upkeep of our rivers to support navigation. If you don’t pay your car tax you get fined – it’s exactly the same with boats on the Thames.
Our enforcement teams are out now along the river, checking registrations for 2023. If anyone has a boat on the Thames and has yet to register it, I advise them to do so now – it’s easy to do. The message is clear – pay the fees or a potentially much larger fine.
Similar to excise duty for road vehicles, boat registration fees allow the Environment Agency to manage and maintain more than 600 miles of inland waterways across England, keeping them open and safe for thousands of boaters.
Trevor Cox entered a guilty plea at Oxford magistrates’ court on 24 February 2023 of breaching the Environment Agency (Inland Waterways) Order 2010. He was fined £166, and ordered to pay costs of £250, a victim surcharge of £66 and his outstanding boat registration fee of £92.94 for 1 January to 31 December 2022.
Owners of powered or non-powered boats, including paddleboards, must register their boats annually with the Environment Agency for use on the non-tidal River Thames.
Boat-registration on the Thames starts on 1 January every year. Any boats found on the water after that date, without having registered, may be liable to a fine.
In a single patrol along the Bray Reach in February 2023, Environment Agency enforcement officers served 78 notices on vessels for non-registration.
Boats can be registered by calling 03708 506 506 or going to River Thames: boat registration and application forms - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)