SUSSEX fishermen joined hundreds of their colleagues from around the country in a high-profile protest flotilla along The Thames.

A fleet of more than 30 ships including boats from Newhaven and Shoreham sailed through London loaded with fishermen angry at current EU fisheries policies and backing Brexit.

The protest saw Ukip leader Nigel Farage and rock star Bob Geldof clash in a war of words from rival fleets of boats.

The Live Aid founder branded Mr Farage "no fisherman's friend" for his low attendance at European Parliament fisheries committee meetings while the South East MEP said Geldof was "deeply ignorant about how the Common Fisheries Policy works".

Newhaven fisherman Ben Stoten, who took part in the flotilla, questioned The Boomtown Rats frontman’s knowledge of the industry and said the UK needed to take back control of their waters and quotas.

The 31-year-old said: "A lot of what Bob Geldof was saying isn’t correct, he likes to stick his oar in on all subjects but he’s not a fisherman and he doesn’t know.

"It’s not going to happen overnight but by leaving the EU we hope for a more sensible management of stocks and quotas.

"At the moment it’s not a partnership, France had quotas for 4,000 tonnes of cod at the end of the year unused when we were crying out for it but they would not let us have it.

“French fleets at the moment can come within six miles of our shoreline, we would want to push that back to secure our own waters.

“We’re having to throw thousands of pounds of fish back into the sea because we don’t have the quotas, its madness.”