We are aware of the impact unauthorised moorings has on local communities.
Tackling unauthorised moorings is complex due to land ownership. Landowners include:
- private landowners
- Environment Agency (EA)
- Network Rail
- Elmbridge Borough Council (only in a minority of cases)
We have reviewed the option of taking on the ownership and management of the riverbank in Elmbridge. Unfortunately with ever-decreasing budgets, coupled with ever increasing demand on services, we are not in a position to take on the costs and liabilities associated with full riverbank ownership.
Unauthorised mooring: what to do
If you think a boat is moored on land without the landowner’s permission, you should:
- Contact the landowner
Let the owner of the land know about the mooring so they can take action to resolve the issue. - Landowner action
Landowners may apply to the courts for a possession order or use other legal powers available to them to require the boat owner to move the vessel. - Report antisocial behaviour
You can report antisocial behaviour linked to moorings. - Noise complaints
We can investigate noise complaints. We only take action where noise from generators, regular parties or loud music is significantly intrusive and harmful to health. - River pollution
Report suspected incidents of river pollution to the Environment Agency.
Find out more about river contamination.
Persistent trespass can lead to stronger enforcement action. Applying for a possession order is the most effective way to resolve repeated unauthorised mooring and is the Environment Agency’s recommended approach.
Legal action
The law allows:
- within the Public Right of Navigation, boat owners can stop on private land for a reasonable period of time, if they have the landowners’ necessary consent - the Environment Agency’s policy, which Elmbridge Borough Council follows, defines 24 hours as a reasonable time
- boat owners can stay on privately-owned land for a longer period than 24 hours if they have the landowner’s consent to do so
- landowners that the boats are moored on can take action against an authorised mooring
- existing byelaws on Elmbridge-owned land are only effective on council-owned land - they do not extend to illegal mooring on private land
What Elmbridge Borough Council can do
While we are constrained by an absence of powers to move or evict boats which are not moored on council-owned land, we work closely with Surrey Police, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service and the Environment Agency who can take action.
We have written to the Environment Agency and the local MP. See letters and responses below:
Environment Agency enforcement
Mooring compliance and enforcement activities on Environment Agency owned land and moorings is undertaken by Environment Agency teams. All Environment Agency remote sites are monitored by local teams via routine foot and boat patrols.
Successful action
Working with our partners at the Environment Agency (EA), Surrey County Council, Network Rail, as well as with private landlords, we have been able to take action against illegal mooring on the River Thames. Partnership successes include:
- February 2026: High Court backs Environment Agency over illegal boats (GOV.UK) - High Court rejected an appeal by boat-owners prevented from legal permanent mooring on part of the River Thames
- January 2026: joint operation with the Environment Agency to remove further sunken vessels
- September 2025: joint enforcement operation with the Environment Agency
- June 2025: removal of sunken and abandoned boats on EBC land
- June 2025: introduction of a new PSPO to crackdown on unauthorised moorings in Elmbridge addressing the problem on our land
- March 2025: officers from the Environment Agency, Elmbridge Borough Council and Surrey Police conducted a joint enforcement operation along the River Thames in Elmbridge around Hurst Park in Molesey
- July 2024: a boat owner has been fined and must pay compensation for failing to register his boat on the River Thames at Molesey, following a successful prosecution by the EA. Read more: Boaters told to pay River Thames registration fees or risk fine: GOV.UK
- July 2024: the county court judge refused the defendants’ permission to appeal against the judgment of 8 March 2024 - they may apply to the High Court for permission to appeal and they have until 21 August 2024 to lodge such an application for permission to appeal
- April 2024: EA successfully brought civil trespass proceedings against a number of boaters (defendants) who have moored continuously on the River Thames at West Molesey for several years without the EA’s consent or licence. Read more about the judgment of 8 March 2024: Judge rules against boat-owners flouting Thames mooring rules: GOV.UK
- April 2022: Elmbridge Borough Council had their planning enforcement orders upheld by the Planning Inspectorate on 4 boat moorings at Cherry Orchard Gardens, Molesey
- January 2022: a boater was fined for illegal moorings in Elmbridge - the owner of 2 boats has was fined £800 and ordered to pay costs of almost £21,000 for obstructing a busy part of the River Thames and was found to have broken safety byelaws when mooring the barges he rented out as accommodation at one of the busiest sections of the river, at Molesey Lock in Surrey
- October 2021: the owner of a pair of 25-metre houseboats obstructing a busy part of the River Thames at Hurst Park was convicted of breaking river laws
- August 2021: the owner of a house boat was given a criminal conviction and £5,000 costs after failing to remove a boat from public moorings following warnings