A BELGIAN trawler captain has been fined for illegal fishing following an 18-mile high-speed chase by the Royal Navy off the North-East coast.

The Royal Navy Fisheries Protection ship HMS Severn made a night-time arrest of the Belgian beam-trawler Marie Louise off Scarborough, North Yorkshire, on Friday.

A spokesman said the incident began at about 9pm when the trawler was spotted fishing on its own within UK waters.

Concealed by the lights of Scarborough, HMS Severn despatched the ship's Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) with a boarding crew.

The RIB, commanded by Lt Simon Austin, chased the trawler at full speed for 18 miles, the spokesman said, before boarding the Marie Louise while both vessels were still moving quickly.

Lt Austin found hidden chest freezers full of undersized sole which had already been prepared and filleted.

The 11-hour operation was completed when HMS Severn escorted the vessel into the Port of Tyne at South Shields.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the master of the Marie Louise and its owner were fined a total of £10,480 each, including costs, by the Fisheries Court in North Shields today.

The vessel was also ordered to forfeit its nets, which were illegally adapted using blinders which reduce the size of the mesh, and its illegal cargo of undersized sole, and was banned from the fishing ground for five days.