Day boat company can sell alcohol to customers

A company leasing pleasure boats on London's canals has been told it can sell beer and wine despite residents' concerns it could lead to alcohol-fuelled antisocial behaviour.

Westminster City Council said GoBoat could sell up to two cans of beer per customer or a bottle of wine between two on its skippered cruises between 09:00 and 22:00, seven days a week.

One objector said: "They will climb over our boats, they will moor their boats to our boats, they will climb over the gates to get to our flowerbeds for a pee."

GoBoat said it believed if it sold the alcohol it would "retain a lot of that control" and it wanted to make it a "high-quality professional operation".

During the council's licensing committee meeting, it was heard residents wanted the application to be turned down after witnessing public sex, nudity, intimidation, harassment and damage to their properties.

GoBoat had already stopped customers drinking on its range of self-driving rental boats following protests from residents and barge owners.

Co-founder Julian Wootton said its new luxury service was "not a return to unsupervised drinking" but was aimed at small groups seeking a "serene and well-managed boating experience".

He told the committee customers had to undergo bag checks before boarding otherwise they were refused entry.

The company already has permission from the River Canal Trust to run bring-your-own cruises but applied for a liquor licence in order to sell alcohol to customers from its base in Merchant Square, Paddington.

Westminster Council approved the application but ordered GoBoat to install CCTV cameras and banned the sale of spirits as part of its decision, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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