A Norfolk broad has had to be closed to sailing races after becoming clogged up by rampantly overgrowing weeds.
Hoveton Little Broad - also known as Black Horse Broad - has been put off limits after sailors reported becoming entangled in the underwater plants.
Horning Sailing Club has been forced to abandon its summer races on the secluded privately-owned broad, between Hoveton and Horning.
The club usually rotates its weekly competitions between the broad and the adjoining river, but the weeds mean that all broad races have been scrapped for the rest of the season.
The club is currently holding its regatta week, which usually starts with a weekend of racing on the broad, but this had to be cancelled, with the river used instead.
There is still access to the broad, and other boats are still able to use it.
Honorary club secretary Anne Wagstaff said: “We always get weeds but it is particularly bad this year.
“It means it is just not deep enough, particularly around the edges, for it not to get caught in propellers or the keels of sailing boats.
“It has meant that we have had to take the decision not to use it for the rest of this season.
“It is a good problem to have in a way because it does show the water quality is much better, but it does spoil the season somewhat.”
The club said it had approached the Broads Authority to help but had been told they didn’t have “enough man-power or machinery to clear it”.
The Broads Authority says it has a “busy programme” of water plant management that helps “maintain a balance between the requirements of boaters and the conservation of habitats for wildlife”.
A spokesman said: “Black Horse Broad is opened to navigation and sailing in the summer but it is privately owned and water plant cutting would be down to the sailing club who would need landowner permission.
“The authority has received requests to assist but this would divert resources from areas that we are responsible for during a very busy time.
“In the same vein you would not expect a council to mow a privately owned garden in favour of publicly owned facilities.”
They said water plant growth on the Broads had been “very healthy this year” as a result of improved water quality.
“The authority has two water plant harvester crews working continuously through the summer season to maintain navigation in areas where it has responsibility,” they added.
“Our full water plant management programme is prioritised to the main rivers and marked channels in the broads.”
Concerns have previously been raised about plant growth at Hickling Broad.
A Broads Authority survey in May indicated that water plants occupied 68pc of its total area, though not all plant growth is tall enough to impact navigation.
The authority said one of its cutting machines was currently on the Upper Thurne and that it regularly cuts the marked navigation channel through Hickling.
Invasion of Black Horse Broad
It is not the first time people have been prevented from sailing on Hoveton Little Broad.
The site played a role in the historical dispute between landowners and the public over rights of access to private broads.
Objecting to several Norfolk landowners preventing access from the main river network, boatbuilder Herbert Woods led a public campaign, culminating in the 'invasion of Black Horse Broad' in 1949.
Woods and 30 local men dismantled the barrier that the landowner had placed across Black Horse Dyke.
The direct action resulted in an agreement with the broad owner, who agreed to open it to the public between Easter and mid-September. However, this campaign did not lead to the re-opening of other closed broads.
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