He has accused the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) of "gold-plating" the rules.

It seemed that the Yorkshire Belle, which sailed between Bridlington and Scarborough, had made its final voyage this month because of new rules.

These say that vessels of its type are limited to round trips of 30 miles - and the Belle's return trip was 42 miles.

Skipper and co-owner Peter Richardson blames EU safety rules.

But Richard Corbett, MEP for Yorkshire and Humberside, says the MCA is at fault - not the EU.

"An EU directive sets the minimum standards across Europe but member states are quite within their rights to set higher standards. This is exactly what the MCA has done, hoping to pass the blame on to Brussels," he said.

The EU rules say vessels like the Yorkshire Belle are only limited to sailing 15 miles from the nearest port or harbour - which means the Belle could continue to make its voyage.

Mr Corbett added: "I have written to the MCA to ask them why they saw fit to impose tougher restrictions on British vessels than what the UK agreed at European level."