Government plans to let people with just two months' boating experience loose on the Thames will lead to deadly accidents, a veteran skipper has warned.

Until now budding skippers have been required to do a six-year apprenticeship before they were allowed to navigate the Thames.

But to meet a new European directive the Government is now planning to abandon the centuries-old tradition and allow Europeans with just a pinch of experience and no idea of the river's dangers to use it.

Colin Bullock, a waterman who has worked on the river for 21 years, said the relaxation of requirements was a recipe for disaster.

Mr Bullock, 38, said: "The tidal Thames is 70 miles long. In the six-year apprenticeship you learn every single inch of that river. You learn every possible situation you could be put in.

"Ever pier on the river is different. Every stretch of the river is different. The Government believes any moron from anywhere in Europe can go onto the Thames.

"I don't care if you've got 25 years of experience on the Seine, there is no other river in Europe like the Thames with its tides and bridges. The Government does not realise how dangerous the Thames is."

Mr Bullock, who lives in Ivy Road, Benfleet, said he feared a repeat of the Marchioness disaster in 1989 when 51 youngsters died after their disco boat was struck by a tanker.

"The skipper of the tanker he had little experience," added Mr Bullock. "That was a major contributory factor.

"We feel as watermen it's going to take the deaths of members of the public before the Government realises you can't have inexperienced people taking control of commercial vessels or passengers vessels on the Thames.

"It's like giving the keys of your car to someone without a driving licence.

"The training is absolutely vital. You can't put someone in command without proper and adequate experience."

European skippers will be allowed on the Thames if they can show they have spent 60 days within a half year on the river.