A boat moored near Huntingdon town bridge has sunk.

Both the Environment Agency, which is responsible for navigation on the River Great Ouse, and Huntingdonshire District Council, which owns the Riverside Park, have been informed of the incident.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We were alerted to the sunken boat at Huntingdon this morning by members of the public. One of our navigation officers has been to the river to assess the situation and established that the boat is not currently causing a blockage for navigation, is not increasing flood risk nor posing a pollution threat to the river.

“We have been trying to contact the boat owner to discuss removal of the boat from the river as the responsibility lies with them. Our understanding is the boat is moored on an area of land owned by Hunts District Council and we are liaising with them at the moment. We believe the boat owner may have been in touch with them already.”

The spokesman said: “We issue regularly updated advice for boaters when river levels and flows may fluctuate so that they may take appropriate action. River flows have been above normal for several weeks and flows have increased over the weekend due to the recent snow and rainfall.’

Water levels in the area are running high following heavy rain at the weekend and part of the common on the others side of the river is underwater.

The owner of the boat is understood to have reported the incident and is believed to be unharmed.