CIVIC chiefs have agreed to reduce the speed limit for “pleasure boats” from eight nautical miles to six in a bid to safeguard Boscombe surf reef users.

A similar speed reduction will be imposed in an area of the sea 200 metres out from the borough shoreline, from Alum Chine to 160 metres west of Boscombe Pier during the summer months.

The Seaside Pleasure Boats Bylaw 2011, which will replace a council bylaw made in 1969 “for the prevention of danger, obstruction or annoyance to persons in the area or using the seashore” will apply to all vessels including jet skis.

Councillor Rod Cooper, Cabinet member for leisure and tourism, said the new seafront speed restrictions would ensure safety around the surf reef all year round.

Councillor Anne Filer stressed the need for the speed restriction to apply to jet skis, adding: “They are very fast and come very close to the shore.”

Councillor David Smith said the new speed limit should be applied all year round along the entire shoreline.

Cabinet members decided to adopt the new bylaw while council officers investigate the possibility of imposing the reduced speed restriction along the entire shoreline all year round.

The Seaside Pleasure Boats Bylaw 2011 bans navigators of pleasure boats from using them “in a dangerous manner, without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons.”

Any seafarer who breaches the bylaw runs the risk of being fined.