A champion of Lancaster Canal who has himself suffered abuse and theft says problems with canalside anti-social behaviour are getting worse.
John Hewson said he'd been threatened by a man and a woman who stole his dinghy and said this was part of wider issues near the canal.
Mr Hewson also said youths have been invading privacy by fishing near canal boat homes, wrecking the canal banks while searching for bait, and there have been other incidents of threats to boaters who live on the canal.
The incident happened on Friday July 3 at around 4.35am when the dinghy, which was tied up with John's main canal boat in the Ashton Basin in Lancaster, was stolen.
John, who presents the Waterside Weekly show about life on Lancaster Canal on Sundays on Beyond Radio, said police responded and apprehended the two suspects, who were later released.
He said the suspects then later confronted him and hurled abuse at him, including making personal remarks about his disability, and later returned to his boat to make threats.
John lives with a visible difference after losing his eye to cancer four years ago, had orbital exenteration surgery and now has a piece of skin covering his right eye socket.
"There was no explanation as to why they had been released and there seemed to be an attitude of ‘it’s only a boat’, when in fact they invaded my home to get to the boat," said John.
"The experience has meant that I have now left Lancaster as the boat was in a vulnerable position and I was left with a feeling of lack of security for the first while living on a boat in six years.
"I won't be able to moor in the basin for a while as there has been no deterrent for the suspects and I'm afraid they will come back again.
"There is a wider issue happening at the basin. Just last week a boater was threatened by an angler after asking teenagers not to fish near his boat. Canal banks are being torn up by teenagers searching for bait and anglers are not respecting rules around boats and fishing.
"Teenagers are regularly fishing down the side of boats right against boat windows which is an invasion of privacy. When asked not to, they continue to fish.
"The digging they do on the banks is often next to boats. As boats locations are tracked by the Canal and River Trust (as part of their boat sighting programme) this could leave boaters who were moored there open to accusations or - worse damage claims.
"I have personally witnessed a boater being threatened by an adult angler after asking kids politely to move away from their boat, just last weekend, kids fishing off my own boat and not dispersing when asked, kids fishing under bridges and from the top of bridges which is not allowed and dangerous, and teenagers fishing by the student accommodation in the basin where there are explicit 'no fishing signs'."
A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: "We called at 4.40am on 3rd July to Aldcliffe Road, Lancaster, to a report of theft of a dinghy from the Ashton Basin.
"Officers attended and the dinghy was recovered. Enquiries are ongoing. No arrests have been made."
Detective Inspector Adie Knowles of Lancaster Police, speaking on his regular Beyond the Beat segment on Beyond Radio this week, said he would look into the issues.
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