#BaccyBoat - It was a tale almost too good to be true when a cheeky sailor opened a tax-free floating off-licence in international waters just off the British coast a decade ago.

But now Phil Berriman has written a new book, The Baccy Boat, detailing the true-life exploits of his "tax-avoiding wheeze", as the Daily Mail reports.

The ebook tells the story of how Berriman moored his yacht The Rich Harvest some 13 miles offshore from Hartlepool, just beyond the UK's territorial waters limit, and began selling cheap booze and tobacco stocked up from tax-exempt Heligoland in the North Sea.

His roaring trade was shut down by customs officials just three months later - but while his stock was seized and destroyed, a High Court judge later ruled that he had not broken any laws.

The Daily Mail has more on the story HERE.

#NEWS UPDATE - British boat users are risking big fines if they sail their craft outside UK waters due to new laws on the use of red diesel, the Daily Telegraph reports.

New laws coming into force on 1 April "will require anyone moving into international waters to sign a declaration that their boat is not being powered by red diesel".

Red-dyed diesel is used by farmers and commercial fishermen throughout the UK at a lower rate of duty. It is also widely used by recreational boaters and yacht owners, as is green diesel by Irish pleasure boaters, though such users have been required to pay the full rate of tax for a number of years now.

However, the European Union is now clamping down on the use of dyed diesel.

The decision by Brussels is causing consternation among the yachting community, which argues that unmarked or 'white' diesel is not widely available in harbours and marinas.

And concerns remain over the presence of biofuels in white diesel which, as previously reported on Afloat.ie, can be harmful to marine engines.

The Daily Telegraph has more on the story HERE.