JAMMED gates at the Boatfloat in Dartmouth brought problems for river users.

Boats were unable to get in or out after the gates failed to open at the weekend.

There were also concerns that high tides were putting pressure on the surrounding wall as the water was unable to flow freely into the inner harbour.

A spokesman for South Hams Council, which is responsible for the mechanism, said: ‘On Sunday, as water levels reached the trigger point, the Boatfloat gates in Dartmouth closed in the expected automatic manner. We were however, then advised that the gate had failed to open on the falling tide.

‘A maintenance operative attended the site that day and made efforts to manually open the gates but without success. An engineer went to site on Monday to investigate the cause of the fault and further investigations are due to continue.

‘With high tides predicted over the coming days, our short-term priority will be to ensure that the gates continue to perform their flood defence function.

‘We appreciate the frustration this incident may have caused to boat owners who use the inner harbour and apologise for the inconvenience caused.

‘Where possible we will try to facilitate daylight access into the inner harbour and will reassess the situation at the end of the week when high tide levels should have significantly reduced.’