AN ANGRY boater with a mooring in Reading has hit out at the ‘criminal damage’ after a fence was reportedly removed from his property.

Ivan Carter, 53, lives in Tring, Hertfordshire, but regularly visits his boatyard in Mill Green, Caversham, a footpath that runs along the River Thames.

Earlier this month, Mr Carter put up a fence and paving slabs outside his boatyard which he says has since been removed. He said: “I put up a palisade fence to secure my property but it’s been forcibly taken down.

“The man who did it unscrewed the wood panels and said he would smash the fence up. The slabs I put down at the outside gates, someone has lifted them all up.

“The man who did it called me an a***hole so I called the police, they are involved now.”

It happened at 12.40pm on Sunday, May 7, and was captured on CCTV.

Mr Carter said: “I put the fence there to protect children from falling into the ditch.

“I’ve tidied the whole place up, trimming the hedges and making it all look good.

“All I was trying to do with the fence is make things safe and prevent the possibility of children drowning, because the ditch floods when the water level is high which can be dangerous.”

Thames Valley Police confirmed it is investigating an incident of criminal damage.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting 43230198718, or make a report online.

CCTV images seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) show the fence being taken down and what appears to be a verbal dispute with Mr Carter and the individual.

It follows a separate complaint from Mr Carter regarding the continued presence of a  shipping container installed at the site, which has been in place for two years and four months.

The container was allegedly placed there to prevent Mr Carter from driving to his boatyard.

He had hoped to create vehicular access to the boatyard through surface works to Mill Green, but his planning application to  Reading Borough Council was refused in February 2022. An appeal was then dismissed by the government planning inspectorate in November 2022.

Mr Carter argued: “The shipping container was put there to stop me which is ridiculous.

“The only thing left to do is remove it.”

The council has since installed two 3ft high green barriers to prevent vehicular access to Mill Green.

A council spokesperson replied: “We are fully aware of the siting of this container, which is on private land rather than council land and is not causing an obstruction as the Mill Green footpath and cycle route remain fully accessible.

“The container was a temporary measure put in place to prevent unauthorised motor vehicle access before a barrier was recently installed by the council, with the full agreement of the landowner.

“The installation of this barrier means the container is no longer needed and the council will now contact the landowner with a view to it being removed, meaning no enforcement action is required at this time.”

Mr Carter added: “I would be really pleased if the container goes, I’m sure a lot of other people would be as well because it’s an unsightly thing.”

Mr Carter has also sought to get his boatyard’s use as a commercial boatyard confirmed by the council’s planning department, which refused his application to obtain a legal certificate for it under application reference 220591.

He has appealed the refusal of the legal certificate to the planning inspectorate, which can be found using reference APP/E0345/X/22/3312747.