Reporter Nick Mathiason suggested BW looked more to its property portfolio for profits than its waterways assets.

And while the first point of the story - that British Waterways' own development of luxury flats in trendy Islington, North London, was built so close to a lock that it prevented the lock from being used for waterways freight - was refuted by CEO Robin Evans, Tim Coghlan of Braunston Marina also finds BW's property policies a worrying aspect of its business dealings - see Coghlan's feature starting on page 23 of this issue.

But while Evans managed to refute most of the points in Mathiason's story, one more point brought a swift response from the British Marine Federation (BMF).

Mathiason highlighted the feeling of a growing band of marina operators that BW is operating marinas in direct competition to their own businesses, which are also suffering from rent hikes by BW.

Evans insisted: "We have sought expert legal opinion on the issue of competition and we are advised that BW is not operating in breach of competition law."

BW went on to say it had put its marina operations into a separate company, British Waterways Marinas Limited (BWML), and was abiding by the protocol established following public consultation.

However, Howard Pridding, executive director of the BMF, told BB the federation had also taken legal advice and had provided BW with full documentation on the opinions of its QC. The BMF's QC was firmly of the opinion that BW is flouting UK competition law.

"We've not seen BW's legal opinion, " said Pridding. "And as there are four areas of the protocol that haven't been agreed, so BW's claim to compliance with the protocol doesn't prove compliance with Competition Law."

Pridding added that many waterways user groups were also concerned about BW's policy on its property dealings.

See Tim Coghlan's Inland Waterways feature starting on page 23.