All ship-shape after vandal attack

Owner Dilwyn Jones arrived early one Saturday morning ready for a busy day of welcoming guests on board his vessel as it makes its way along the river from Welsh Bridge but was instead greeted by the sight of thousands of leaflets, tables, chairs and a board lying in the water.

And it was a desperate rush to get the place cleared up and ready for its first guests of the day.

The passenger boat business was established in 2010 which, after almost 10 years in existence, now carries some 50,000 people per year over its eight-month season. Dilwyn has a fleet of five boats, with four for hire, and the larger Sabrina running six scheduled trips every day, along with themed evenings and private hire.

He said: "I was really disappointed to arrive at work to be faced with the results of mindless vandalism to our premises. We have CCTV, which wasn’t quite conclusive enough to identify the three individuals who broke into our premises, smashed an alarm sensor and threw tables, chairs, a board and thousands of leaflets into the river and all over our pontoon. They also threw a heavy barrier through a gazebo. Seeing as we run seven days a week, we cleared up what we could and contacted various services to help resolve the issue."

And first to step in and lend a helping hand was Severntec Diving.

Dilwyn, who is director of the Shrewsbury Tourism Association and the Business Improvement District, and Chairman of the River Festival said: “A search was done on Google for a ‘local dive centre’ and RAID dive centre Severntec Diving came up. The owner Kevin Murphy arrived within a few hours with a team and recovered all of our belongings with the minimum of fuss. Their assistance was gratefully appreciated.”

Kevin said: “I was delighted to be able to lend a hand to another local business, and hopefully minimise the disruption that wanton vandalism like this can cause.”