Hopes sinking for future of floating coffee shop

A fresh appeal to keep the Coffee Boat, which sells drinks and cakes from a mooring in South Yorkshire’s Stainforth and Keadby Canal, afloat has been rejected despite outcry in the community.

The Canal and River Trust removed owner Donna Milsom’s mooring licence in July after she switched from an unpowered “butty” and narrowboat to a larger vessel with interior seating to cope with rising customer numbers, which has been deemed in breach of her original planning permission.

Last week regular visitors to the premises pleaded with the Canal and River Trust to allow the cafe to stay open, but the charity has ordered Mrs Milsom to cease trading immediately. She now faces prospect of losing the floating business which has soared in popularity since opening up three years ago.

Mrs Milsom, of Doncaster, said: “I just want to carry on doing what I’ve been doing. The cafe has become a hub for the community of the canal.”

Customer Darrell Priestly said: “It provides a public service, a valuable one, in keeping with the spirit that prevailed when the canal network was first developed in the 18th-century.”

A spokesman for the trust told The Yorkshire Post the licence would not be returned and it has the power to seize possession of Mrs Milsom’s Brass Rivet II but would do so only as a “last resort”.