Ministers risk new French spat after rejecting fishing licences

The government said that they intended to grant only 12 licences for small boats to fish in the zone between six to 12 miles off the coast of Britain
The government said that they intended to grant only 12 licences for small boats to fish in the zone between six to 12 miles off the coast of Britain
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Ministers risked starting another post-Brexit fishing conflict with France after rejecting more than 80 per cent of applications by French boats to fish in British coastal waters.

The government told Brussels and the French authorities yesterday that they intended to grant only 12 licences for small boats to fish in the zone between six to 12 miles off the coast of Britain.

At the same time officials in Jersey are set to reject 122 applications from French boats to operate in waters off the coast of the island, granting only 47 licences.

France has already privately called on the European Commission to use the threat of wider trade sanctions to break what it regards as UK intransigence on fishing rights.

The latest move by London