A Thames Ditton man has been ordered to pay more than £1,500 after he was caught using his boat in the Thames without a licence.

Stuart Charles Wolff, who lives in the Thames Ditton Marina in Portsmouth Road, was found guilty in his absence at Staines Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, March 24.

He was caught using his boat at the Thames Ditton Marina last September.

Wolff, who had two previous convictions for the same offence, was ordered to pay the full year’s licence fee of £1,682.76, a fine of £450, prosecution costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £15.

On the same day another man from Buckinghamshire was also fined £100 for boating without a license.

Kim Pottinger, waterways income team leader at the Environment Agency, said: "We are pleased with the fines that have been handed out following these two prosecutions.

"The income we raise from boat registration is very important for the community and the environment.

"It contributes directly to improving and maintaining waterway structures such as locks and lay-bys, as well as providing facilities like visitor moorings, water points, rubbish and sewage disposal and electric boat charging hook-ups.

"It is vital that we continue to invest in our waterways to create and maintain a good quality environment that people can enjoy for years to come.

"We are pleased that courts issue fines such as this to those who continue to flout the boating rules."

Under the Thames Conservancy Act 1966, it is illegal to use a boat on the non-tidal Thames without it being registered with the Environment Agency.

The law applies to all types craft, including motor cruisers, sailing boats, narrow boats and unpowered vessels, such as canoes or row boats.