Calls for the public to help save Bridlington's Yorkshire Belle
ITV Calendar's Mark Witty reports.
There are fears that a historic pleasure boat that's served Yorkshire's east coast for more than seven decades might not survive the Covid downturn, unless supporters help it through the winter.
The Yorkshire Belle has been showing visitors the sights of Bridlington since 1947 but has been out of action for more than a year and now its owners are now facing a £30,000 bill to keep it on the water.The Covid-19 crisis brought Bridlington to a standstill at the hight of the summer, with social distancing meaning that the Yorkshire Belle was unable to re-open.
Peter Richardson is the owner of the Yorkshire Belle and is now calling on members of the public to help save the historic boat.
He said: "We could only carry a quarter of our capacity, which would have made it not viable. Of course we wanted to keep our passengers safe, so we took the very hard decision not to operate.
Peter bought the Belle in 1981 and is hoping his son Sam can continue its story.
The boat was built in Beverly following the second world war, specifically to serve tourists in Bridlington.
Since then, it has hosted everything from weddings to sea cruises.
Peter Richardson continued: "They are irreplaceable, there used to be five large vessels like the Yorkshire Belle, some of them larger, but she's now the last one here and on the whole of the east coast.
"It would be very gratifying and very pleasing to know that people cared about her that they wanted her to carry on."
To find how you can help the Yorkshire Belle, you can head to their fundraising page.