SAILORS seeking a gold dust berth on the world-famous River Hamble could now be waiting forever, Hamble Parish Council has claimed.

The waiting list for a budget berth already stretches back more than 20 years, and now the village authority reckons a controversial shake-up of mooring management on the river will only make matters worse.

The scheme, to be in place by next year, will see half of the 1,200 mooring sites currently licensed by Hampshire County Council's River Hamble harbour authority placed directly in the hands of Whitehall.

The Crown Estate - the government body which leases the riverbed to the county council - will manage moorings licensed to clubs and boatyards.

The remaining 600 licensed to individuals will be managed by the harbour authority which has pledged to streamline the waiting list.

Included in the proposed overhaul are measures to root out insincere or defunct applications, a deposit system, a regular audit and a priority scheme for charitable youth training groups.

But the decision by the county council's River Hamble harbour management sub-committee to let 600 berths slip away has disappointed Hamble Parish Council.

Council clerk Kate Cullen said: "The parish council's view has always been that as and when there is the opportunity, any moorings that are held in commercial areas should come back into the public domain.

"By doing that it is one way of being able to allocate berths to those on the waiting list."