CAMPAIGNERS who are battling for the return of popular summer boat trips were given fresh hope today when a Government minister offered to step in and help.

Scarborough pleasure steamers – the Coronia and the Regal Lady – were prevented from sailing all the way to Whitby and Bridlington two years ago under UK safety regulations.

The boats are now limited to a maximum distance of 15 nautical miles from the port of origin – Whitby is a distance of 17 nautical miles from Scarborough.

Robert Goodwill, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said had spoken to Jim Fitzpatrick MP, who is the Parliamentary undersecretary of state for Transport, who had, in turn, promised to seek some sort of compromise.

Mr Goodwill added: “He’s going to see what he can do. He’s talking to his officials to see if they can come up with some sort of compromise.”

He added that the Coronia, which helped ferry British troops as part of the Dunkirk evacuation during the Second World War, would probably head for the nearest port if an emergency arose while at sea.

“They seem to be nit-picking on safety issues,” Mr Goodwill said. “The issue is how far away you are from a port you can get into. If you had a problem 15 miles from Scarborough you wouldn’t come back to Scarborough, you’d head or Whitby.”

The MP added that it made more sense for the vessel to be 15 miles from the nearest port of refuge or lifeboat station and he would suggest that to Mr Fitzpatrick.

The British interpretation of EU regulations was imposed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and applied to vintage pleasure cruisers.

Under the ruling the Coronia faces a 30-mile round trip back to Scarborough, rather than docking in Whitby after just 17 miles.

Last year the owner of both vessels, Tom Machin, received a glimmer of hope when he was told by MEP Edward McMillan-Scott that the EU safety laws actually stated that vessels were required to be 15 nautical miles from “a place of refuge” – but his hopes were dashed when the MCA insisted it was sticking to its original ruling.

Mr Machin’s stance has attracted a groundswell of public support but in 2007 a 12,000-name petition to Downing Street failed to make officials change their minds.

Mr Machin said he was pleased that politicians had continued the fight. He said: “It’s fantastic because we need the Coronia badly. We need it going back to Whitby.

“It’s just for two miles. The amount of work it has cost us is unbelievable. It devastated us last year. We need Whitby – to keep the two ships running in Scarborough is difficult, and the weather hit us last year.”

From The Scarborough Evening News on Saturday, May 16, 2009.