Marchioness' inquiry hopes

`The Government is to meet relatives of victims of the Marchioness Thames pleasure boat disaster next month to hear their case for a public inquiry into the tragedy. Glenda Jackson, the transport minister, said the Government was "considering the case for a public inquiry" and would meet the Marchioness Action Group in August. She added that the group's "request for a full and open inquiry" would be discussed.

Fifty-one people were killed when the Marchioness and the dredger Bowbelle collided at night on the Thames in August 1989. An inquest jury in April 1995 found that the victims had been killed unlawfully, but in July 1996 the Crown Prosecution Service closed the file on the tragedy.