It is my job with my executive team to ensure BW sticks to the principles of fair trading. We set about implementing a whole range of checks and balances to monitor and report on our trading activities to ensure that BW trades fairly. These are the 13 points you published in your last edition.

Compliance with competition law is about not distorting the market place. I believe the checks and balances BW has in place guard against anticompetitive behaviour.

Requests to BMF and a direct letter to all commercial operators on the network have so far not produced evidence of unfair trading by BW. I will take any evidence that may be produced very seriously.

Having explained to BMF our procedures to ensure fair trading, it was pleasing when we reached an agreement on 26 September to 'park' our widely differing legal views on competition law and concentrate on joint development of still more agreed methodologies for guarding against anti-competitive behaviour.

Unfortunately on 26 October, BMF reversed the agreed position by issuing us a written ultimatum demanding that we accept their legal position as a pre-condition for any further joint working. Given our differing views on the interpretation of competition law, this was an unacceptable condition for BW. We still believe that the agreement to work together reached on 26 September was a good way forward. We hope that BMF will return to this in time.

Meanwhile, I am very pleased that we continue to work with TYHA and others towards the launch of a marketing campaign to stimulate private sector investment in marinas. This will be of benefit to the whole inland waterway industry.

Yours faithfully Robin Evans And the response to Robin Evans from the BMF:

Dear Mr Nash, BMF could comment and counter every point that is raised in Robin Evan's letter, but we feel that this will not resolve this dispute.

As must be clear to your readers, BW and BMF have arrived at entrenched positions.

This is due to the absence of clear, detailed explanations from BW to BMF's requests for the past 18 months as to how conflict of interest is avoided and how fair trading is actually achieved in the entire inland marinas and moorings market.

BMF wish to work with BW for the good of the inland waterways and it is for this reason that BMF has been proposing a resolution through without prejudice mediation.

We hope that BW will agree to this proposal to mediate especially in the light of the Government's pledge that its Agencies resolve disputes informally by mediation.

Yours sincerely, John Clarke