Due to rising tensions on the River Cam, it has been announced that a new patrol boat will survey the waters to tackle punt wars, aggressive swans and illegal boaters.

The Conservators of the River Cam, a statutory navigation authority for Cambridge, have put the suggestion forward.

They have allocated £10,000 to pay for the new craft.

It will be utilised to help block angry swans while boat races are underway as well as along the Backs to tackle illegal punt operators. The move has also been prompted by increasing concern over the river becoming unsafe due to congestion.

The Conservators hope to contact the police and to offer the services of the boat for use in raids and investigations.

Joint operations with the police are not an unknown occurrence for the Conservators. In the past, they cooperated with the police on a regular basis, including joint patrols and once helping the police undertake a night raid on a suspected drug dealer’s house.

Last July, officers from the Conservators were patrolling the waterway to prevent ‘tombstoning’, whereby thrill-seeking youngsters wanting to cool off during the hot summer days of last year were jumping into the river from the city’s bridges.

Last month, the Conservators also revealed that they were looking into placing cameras on the waterway at a cost of about £2,500 each. This would be to allow boaters and rowers to navigate as well as allowing an international audience to spectate at boat races such as The Bumps.

Jeff Ramsay, river manager, said: “Ideally we’d like something that would be capable of going up The Backs. In the future we are planning to update our bylaws to include the ability to recover unlicensed craft – so I have got unlicensed punts in mind in the longer term.

“As for aggressive swans, the patrol boat could potentially help in the plans to corral the swans during The Bumps and help avoid some of the problems we’ve had in the past.”

In the meantime, the Conservators have asked for suggestions to name the boat.