High ' n dry

A crane is going to attempt to recover a luxury boat balanced precariously above the River Avon. The cabin cruiser, Vino Calypso, owned by Steve Blake, has been poised 10ft above water since floods receded in Bredon, Worcestershire, more than a fortnight ago.

Dorothy Denny, who owns the marina there with her husband, said it was a "miracle" the £20,000 vessel was completely undamaged after becoming lodged on mooring posts.
Nineteen boats have sunk or been left stranded in an adjoining meadow since the worst floods in modern British history.

Mrs Denny, 49, said: "The boat is completely undamaged - you could not have put it there if you tried.

"Workers are trying to get the boat down today. They are using a crane but it will be a nail-biting job. There are a lot of boats which have been quite badly damaged in our meadow but, in all honesty, we have been quite lucky. This week we took a boat down the river. As you travel down towards the Severn, the scene resembles a train crash. The devastation is littered across the fields. It is a tragic situation for the boating community."

Mrs Denny, and partner Richard, a motivational guru, have had to be patient, waiting for the soil to harden before the stranded cruiser could be moved by crane.