A row has erupted in a famous British seaside town after its council banned a decades-old tradition and threatening fines and even prosecutions for those who don’t comply.
Ticket sellers for pleasure boat trips in St Ives have traditionally touted their services to tourists at a gate next to its lifeboat station.
But now, in a move that they say is putting their businesses at risk, the Cornish town’s council is forcing them them to operate out of designated booths.
Those who stray from their patch to sell tickets elsewhere face being immediately fined £100 a day up to a total of £1,000, with the potential for things to escalate even further.
St Ives Town Council has also cut the number of booths allowed from 16 to 10, with sellers accusing the council of refusing to budge or compromise.
The new rules mean that one firm lost its pitch despite being in business for more than half a decade, the BBC reports.
It comes as the changes mean an operator that has several types of boats is only allowed one stall, instead of a booth for each different style of boats and trips.
The Council has said it understands ‘change is difficult’ but adds that ‘boat trips are alive and well’ and ‘will continue as they always have’.
Karen Gilbert, of Nemo Glass Bottom Boat Trips, said: ‘I hope there can be a solution.
‘We’re not saying you can keep adding more and more, but let’s cap it at… the 16 that had a licence last year and not destroy these historic businesses.’
In a post on its Facebook page, St Ives Pleasure Boat Association explained the situation, saying: ‘With this crushing news there were lots of worried business owners wondering how we were going to operate this year.
‘The council came back with a map, with 10 dots on it and said that these were the locations that they would allow booths to tout from and that and businesses that have any links between them, say the directors are the same must share a booth, regardless if these businesses are completely separate LTD companies.
‘Our members were obviously not happy with this, given the council had dished out individual business licenses for the past 5 years, so we made a counterproposal.
‘Accepting losing the gate to tout from was a big blow, but we took the council’s map and added five or so more dots on it for additional booths in reasonable locations to tout from.
‘This was immediately shut down by our town council, and we were basically told it’s their way or the highway.
‘These boats and businesses have been trading here for years and years, and now the council want to shut us all down?’
The association went on to explain: ‘With our businesses and start to the season in tatters, we walked to the Guildhall with all our staff and calmly tried to explain that all these young people are out of work in this beautiful weather because of the council.
‘We made a desperate plea for some temporary licenses so we could work the Easter holidays and keep operating whilst the council found a resolution. We were met with a blatant ‘no’ and told that if we were caught trading we would be fined and they would take our touting desks away.
‘This is now carrying into a second week of the Easter holidays and we have lost thousands already.’
The town council told the BBC the changes have been brought in as a result of concerns from the RNLI, complaints from the public and other businesses about the behaviour and the number of sellers.
‘The RNLI asked that touts did not trade from the gate, and the highway manager was concerned about so many people standing on the road.’
It added that licences were issued ‘to all but one business’ and ‘all of them are now trading for the season’.
However, town clerk Louise Dwelly told CornwallLive the Facebook post implied that the council is stopping heritage pleasure boat trade, but she rejected this because they have licenses and are trading.
She added: ‘All we’re trying to do is get businesses to have a booth, be identified and sell tickets in a professional way, but because it’s never been done like that in St Ives, they’re furious about it.’
has approached St Ives Town Council for a comment.