A Norfolk Broads boating company has banned tourists from consuming alcohol on its vessels after incidents of antisocial behaviour, including people urinating off the side of the boats.
Mary Sparrow, the director of Hippersons boatyard, said a minority of guests would visit the Broads just to drink on the water all day, leading to staff facing abuse and boats being damaged by intoxicated customers.
She said she expected the problem to be discussed at the next meeting of Visit the Broads, which represents businesses in the area.
“We started to see a minority of our guests loading up the day boats with crates of beer and things and it was causing problems,” Sparrow told the Telegraph
“There was some damage done to the boats a few years back and it meant it was affecting our income. Some guests were coming back drunk and being abusive to staff and that’s really not fair on our staff – if they behaved that way in a pub they’d get banned.”
She said the alcohol ban, which was introduced last year, had been a success and not put people off using the company: “We wondered if we would lose all our customers and we haven’t. A lot of people are really pleased with the rule and think it’s a good thing.”
The Broads Authority, which has statutory responsibility for the waterways, said it encouraged a sensible approach to drinking and it was up to individual boating companies to determine their own policies.
“We always tell people to balance their alcohol intake,” Rob Rogers, the director of operations, told the BBC. “Always wear a lifejacket and don’t overindulge in alcohol.”
There are no national laws against recreational boat users navigating on water while under the influence of alcohol, but a Norfolk Broads bylaw states that “a person shall not navigate a vessel whilst under the influence of drink or drugs to such an extent as to be incapable of taking proper control of the vessel”.
Sparrow said there had been a number of incidents where visitors spent the whole day drinking on the boats, or visited nearby pubs, and were “really over-refreshed” by the time they returned the boats.
She said they had received complaints from other boat users about the rowdy behaviour of their customers and it could bring the reputation of the company into disrepute.
“We decided we had to change things because that’s not what we wanted for people. We want people to have a good time on the Broads, to come back to the Broads and also be safe,” she said.
