IT’S full steam ahead for a £130,000 appeal to help keep an historic Scarborough pleasure boat steamer afloat – but it is still prevented from sailing to Whitby by British bureaucratic red tape.

Owners of the MV Coronia, which helped evacuate more than 900 stranded British troops from the Dunkirk beaches, need the cash to cover the cost of essential hull repairs.

The vessel hit the headlines when it and its sister ship the Regal Lady were prevented from making daily trips to Whitby and Bridlington under a British interpretation of EU regulations.

Last month skipper Tom Machin received a glimmer of hope when the European Commission said the Coronia could safely make the trips within EU law.

But this week Mr Machin said the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) – the authority responsible for enforcing the regulations – had this month dug its heels in and insisted both boats are unable to travel further than 15 nautical miles from their port of departure.

He said: “There’s been no change we can only go 15 miles up and down the coast.”

Mr Machin added there had always been the restriction but in the past there had been more flexibility and he was allowed to travel a couple of miles further at the discretion of the authorities.

“It’s really disappointing. So many people have been coming along saying congratulations and I have so say it’s not happened.”

Last winter he spent six months writing a history of the Coronia, which he published earlier this year, to help raise money for the Coronia Restoration Fund and it has sold around 500 copies.

Mr Machin said: “We will lose Coronia, and there’s no way we want to lose Coronia. I’m surprised by the interest in the book. All proceeds will go towards keeping her in the water.”

He added a donation had come from the Merchant Navy Association after he helped it in September.“What I didn’t know when we came back into the harbour they presented the first cheque to the appeal for £500,” he said.

MV Coronia, which was named HMS Watchful during the Second World War, was part of the flotilla of small boats which took part in the historic rescue of more than 300,000 troops trapped on the Dunkirk beaches by German forces.

Sir Jimmy Savile, who remembered going on trips aboard Coronia as a 12-year-old boy, has publicly backed the campaign and has urged ex-servicemen and women to help boost the restoration fund.

From The Scarborough Evening News on Thursday, October 30, 2008.