This small but significant increase of 3% marks the first real rise in powered boat licences since 1990.

The figures also reveal a large increase in the number of visiting boaters compared to last year - there were nearly 20% more powered boats visiting the Thames and nearly 8% more unpowered boats, such as canoes and dinghies, says the EA.

This consistent rise in numbers has contributed to boat traffic shooting up, with 26% more vessels moving along the Thames in 2003, than in 2002.

"These figures are excellent news, " said Thames waterway manger Eileen McKeever. "The National Waterways Festival and excellent weather undoubtedly played a big part in attracting people to the river, but I feel it also shows the impact of the Agency's investment in marketing and facilities, since the start of Thames Ahead in November 2000."

Our visitthames website is a great example of this, she added. During the height of the summer the number of unique visitors using visitthames reached 6,433 and the number of hits reached 43,887, which was a huge increase on last year.

"With all the improvements we have planned for the website this winter, " she said, "I hope to see results like this getting even better next year."