WITH reference to your report on the persecution of boaters (Friday’s Oxford Mail), I believe Oxford City Council, British Waterways and the Environment Agency should be doing everything they can to welcome boaters, not persecute them.

Without boats the canal would swiftly become a shallow, polluted ditch and one of the unique features of the city would disappear.

Councillors may want a homogenised and characterless domain but persecuting boaters once again can only be to the detriment of the city.

PETER UNDERWOOD (boat-dweller), c/o Nateby Crossing Lane, Garstang, Lancashire