BOAT owners can now fill up their tanks with petrol from the edge of Windermere after the lake's first waterside pump in more than six years began trading.

Windermere Aquatic has invested in excess of £40,000 in the operation at its Bowness marina.

It will make refuelling for boat enthusiasts simpler as they no longer need to fill jerry cans with petrol and carry them to the water.

Chris Brammer, who works in marketing and development for Windermere Aquatic, said the petrol pump was part of the company's drive to have the 'best marina in the Lakes'.

"Petrol is a service that we should be offering anyway," he said.

"We want to make sure that the marina has a full range of products on show."

The last petrol pump on Windermere's shores closed in 2015 when bosses at Bowness Bay Marina decided it would not be financially viable to continue providing fuel.

Mr Brammer, 77, acknowledged the new pump was unlikely to be hugely profitable.

"We don't expect it to make a lot of money," he said.

"It's not a major product in that way, but it is a good service.

"The margins are very small.

"We can't buy petrol at the same price as a major garage."

Windermere Aquatic closed down its previous petrol-supply service in 2005 when it began using floating pontoons instead of fixed ones - with the pump having been on a fixed pontoon.

Mr Brammer said the new service consisted of a surface-mounted petrol tank and pump. The nozzle can be extended across to parked boats.

"If we are going to change to hydrogen in future, it's going to be very easy to implement all the changes necessary," he said.

A filling slot can be booked by visiting the 'marina' section of aquatic-quays.com.