Work under way to recover sunken river boats

Work is under way to try to recover five sunken boats from the River Avon in Bath.

Bath and North East Somerset Council said the boats in the stretch of river near Pulteney Weir were a hazard to others using the waterway and posed a pollution risk.

It is trying to claim back £70,000 in compensation from the boat owners for the operation.

However some of the owners are trying to recover the boats themselves to avoid being charged for the council's work.

The five boats, which the council said were illegally moored, have been underwater for up to five years.

Two of them sank after excessive flooding in the river last year.

Dunstan Bertschinger, one of the boat owners, hired scuba equipment and, with the help of friends, was able to rescue his own boat.

"If they want to come to me with costs... I'm a reasonable man, so if it's reasonable I'm fine with it," he said.

"However, the fact of them telling us to stop, forcing us to stop, and then taking our money to pay other people a massively inflated figure to do the work we were doing, doesn't feel right to me."

Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for neighbourhood services, said: "They've known about this for a long time.

"We've had an open dialogue with the owners we have been able to trace.

"They shouldn't have had them moored there in the first place. You own a boat, you know the responsibilities and you should insure the boat against this sort of thing.

"We'll be seeking to recover as much money as possible from the owners."

Work should finish this week, depending on the weather, he added.

Nathan Taylor, from the council's contracted salvage crew, said: "A lot of these boats potentially could have contaminants inside them.

"Once in the water they could potentially cause a hazard to the wildlife."

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