ROWING boats could soon be back on the River Severn after councillors agreed to spend up to £30,000 to explore whether they could return.

The city council has put the money aside so it can test the water on whether to reintroduce the boats in a bid to boost tourism on the river and bring more people to the city.

Boat hire on the River Severn all but finished with the closure of Pitchcroft Boating Station in 2014 after more than 100 years.

The business - which had 80 boats during its heyday - supplied an array of rowing boats, motorboats, day boats and canoes.

Owner John Morris died in January, aged 90.

Whilst it was Councillor Louis Stephen who put forward the idea, as part of the policy and resources committee, it will now be the city council’s income generation subcommittee that will spend the £30,000.

Cllr Stephen said the idea was an “open suggestion” and that it was essential for the council to work alongside other river users to find out whether it was safe.

He said: “I know there a lot of issues on this. If it was easy to do, it would have been done.

“It is important to say that whatever we decide, it is not a standalone project and it will actually need to be incorporated with other projects.

Opinion was largely favourable but some councillors felt the money could be spent on other projects.

Cllr Stuart Denlegh-Maxwell said: “I support the idea of a feasibility study although I can think of better ways of spending £30,000.

“The river community needs to be consulted and their experience and advice needs to be taken seriously. I would like it to be supported by all the various bodies that use the river because we must have them helping to make it a success. We must have full confidence in the person who ends up running the service.

“Let us understand that the Severn can be a very dangerous river and sometimes people neither understand it nor respect it. An analogy of cyclists and lorries is not a daft one.”

Cllr Joy Squires said the council could find out if a world-class water sports facility could be built in the city - a project that could bring in more money and people to Worcester.

She said: “I do think that sometimes we think that this river isn’t well used and that not much is going on, when in fact it’s a very busy river.”