France detains British boat amid ongoing Brexit fishing conflict
A British trawler has been detained by authorities in France as an ongoing dispute over fishing rights increasingly escalates.
It has emerged that two boats were fined late last night after one failed to comply with checks by police and the other was found not to hold a proper licence, according to the French maritime ministry.
A statement posted by French maritime minister Annick Girardin this morning said checks had been carried out by authorities on boats in the Baie de Seine, near Le Havre, in the north of the country.
One trawler was fined for obstructing checks after it initially refused a request to be boarded by police, the statement said. It was later not found to have been in breach of regulations.
The ministry said the second boat was not on a list of UK vessels with licences granted by the European Commission and France. The boat was then ordered to divert to Le Havre.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has been contacted for comment.