SPEEDING boat-owners have received fines totalling £1,500 after being caught in a crackdown during the summer.

Cases against the eight men were heard this week and each admitted or was found guilty of excessive speed on the River Arun.

Speed limits for the river, which stretches from Littlehampton to Arundel and beyond, are roughly six knots. The maximum fine for the offence is £1,000.

Cases against the men, who all live in West

Sussex or Surrey, were heard by Arundel magistrates.

Michael Shakespeare, for the Environment Agency, said: "Speeding on the river causes a large wake that can seriously erode riverbanks and lead to floodbank failure.

"It is also a danger to birds and their nests and a nuisance to other river users."

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