A fishing boat skipper was ordered to pay almost £27,000 after sailing the wrong way along a shipping lane.

Simon Hughes, from Marden, was caught several times travelling in the incorrect direction within a Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) on the Dover Strait on September 14 2022.

With more than 400 commercial vessels using the Dover Strait daily, the TSS separates ships into two lanes for inward and outward-bound traffic.

HM Coastguard officers made repeated attempts to contact the 65-year-old sailor, first by radio and then by a rogue vessel warning broadcast to ships within the TSS.

Finally, contact was made with the boat - named Reel Fun 2 - after the Royal Navy intervened.

Hughes appeared at Maidstone Magistrates Court on June 12 where he was ordered to pay a fine of £1,730, victim surcharge of £173 and prosecution costs of £25,000.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency Investigator Mark Flavell said: “Large ships may have difficulty in seeing small vessels using the TSS.

“Failing to comply with the rules may cause confusion on the bridge of large ships resulting in alteration of speed and course.

“This can have a knock-on effect for other large ships creating an unnecessary hazard to shipping.”