A COLOURFUL new boat has been launched in Chipping Sodbury, despite the town only having a shallow stream.

Although fully seaworthy, the vessel will be stationery and has been positioned next to the River Frome near the Wickwar Road car park.

It was a gift from Chipping Sodbury Yacht Club, one of the only such groups in the country not to actively sail, to Sodbury in Bloom.

The gardening group will now plant up the small wooden boat with shrubs and flowers befitting of a beach scene.

Jane Lund, from Sodbury in Bloom, said: “Over the summer it will change and gradually it will begin to look like a beach.

“It’s great fun and will help us to enhance the town. If we get a gold medal at the In Bloom awards as a result then that is a bonus.”

Nick Cragg, from the yacht club which is coming to the end of its 30th year celebrations, said: “This provides Sodbury in Bloom and the yacht club to provide something for the community.

“We in the yachting world are very excited as this is the first boat we have ever owned.”