A mysterious craft has been spotted cruising down the Cherwell - but it won't sink the popularity of the traditional wooden punts, writes Gemma Simms.

The candy-striped pedal-powered craft was introduced last month at Magdalen Bridge Boathouse in Oxford and has already attracted a number of European tourists.

However, fears have been dispelled that tourists will choose the pedalo instead of the punt because it doesn't need a pole.

Howard & Son, which runs the boathouse, commissioned the craft from Damian Brown, who has a boat-building business in Witney. Andrew Howard, a partner in the business with his father, Derrick, expects the pedalos to be a success.

"They were introduced as a fun boat and add more variation to the punt. They differ in that you can't stand up in them - you have to lie back and relax!

"We have only had them for about six weeks and it's difficult to say how successful they have been so far because of the weather over the Easter break," he told the Oxford Mail.

Mr Howard believes the pedalos will merely provide an alternative to users rather than push the wooden punts off the water. However, Ben Johnson, president of the Junior Common Room at Magdalen College, said: "This is a first for Oxford, but a step in the wrong direction. Filling the Cherwell with noisy technicoloured plastic buckets would be like seeing the Taj Mahal by motorbike or drinking champagne out of a sock."

The pedalos cost £10 an hour to hire compared with £9 for a punt. Roger Forster, manager of boat hire at Cherwell Boathouse, in Bardwell Road, north Oxford, said: "Punting is a traditional pastime to tourists, locals and the students in traditional wooden boats and that's what we do.

"Therefore, I don't think the traditional punts will be under threat from the pedalos."

Story date: Saturday 17 April

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