A MASSIVE hike in Weymouth harbour charges will force many small boat owners out of the water, it was claimed today.

Rocketing mooring fees combined with a move to slash the discount enjoyed by residents of the town will sound the death knell for many boating enthusiasts.

The Weymouth Harbour Boat Users' Association is incensed at the proposal and is urging members to voice their concerns in a bid to reverse the decision.

The council's policy and resources committee has already agreed to the new charges but the move has to be rubber-stamped at the full council meeting on Thursday.

The council is pushing the rate up for moorings outside the Municipal Offices by 10 per cent, to pay for new pontoons and to fund events like the Small Boats Race which the resort is organising in June as part of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations.

On top of that, the residents' discount for mooring fees is being reduced from 35 per cent to 10 per cent over five years.

According to figures from the Weymouth Harbour Boat Users' Association and assuming an annual increase of 10 per cent on pontoon moorings as has been the case for the last five years, a person owning an eight-metre craft will see current charges rocket from £788.40 to £1,755.20 in 2006 under the new regime.

For the same size boat, a non-resident will see charges increase by almost £740 over the same period.

Association chairman Terry Phillips says many members have already approached him to say they will be forced to pull out of boating altogether if the new charges are introduced.

Mr Phillips, a businessman who semi-retired to Weymouth almost three years ago with wife Molly-Anne, but has been operating boats out of the resort for more than 20 years, said: "This council sees harbour users as an easy touch.

"Many small boat owners are elderly or young people who are on a limited budget and no way will they be able to afford these new charges. The residents' discount is a historical right and I think it's disgraceful that it should be changed after so long.

"We are also upset that part of the mooring charge will pay for a boat race that we are not even involved in or will benefit from."

Mrs Phillips, who is secretary of the association, said small boat users had no access to facilities such as parking, toilets and showers but were facing a huge increase in charges.

In a council report considered by the policy and resources committee, the director of environmental services, Richard Burgess, said he was not aware of other ports giving residents discounts for pontoon moorings.

He added that the district auditor had examined financial returns from the harbour and indicated that the committee should be taking a 'more commercial line in the interest of the council taxpayers as a whole.'