Mayor ready to pull the plug on gondoliers

The canals of Venice will seem a little greyer, a little more glumly utilitarian, next month, when the serenading of gondola passengers, whether by guitar, accordion, mandolin or plain, unvarnished tenor, will be banned outside strictly specified hours.

The canals of Venice will seem a little greyer, a little more glumly utilitarian, next month, when the serenading of gondola passengers, whether by guitar, accordion, mandolin or plain, unvarnished tenor, will be banned outside strictly specified hours.

Those romantic excursions at €80 (£55) a pop (musicians extra) through the morning mist or under a full moon, with "La biondina in gondoeta" or "gondoli, gondola" ringing in the lovers' ears, now stand a good chance of culminating in an unromantic financial penalty.

Mayor Paolo Costa, in his capacity as commissioner of canals, has proposed banning serenading in the mornings, and possibly at night, as part of a package aimed at solving a traffic crisis which has seen gondoliers stage a protest strike.

Unregulated use of the city's hundreds of canals by motor taxis, barges and speed boats, as well as vaporetti (water buses) and gondolas has caused a spate of accidents, and sparked fears that the waves are eating away at Venice's foundations. In the latest incident, which took place on Sunday morning, 10 people were hurt in Giudecca canal when two motor boats collided. Two weeks earlier, a 15-month old Dutch baby narrowly escaped drowning when he was thrown overboard with his family after a vaporetto crashed into their gondola.

Mr Costa is demanding restrictions on serenading because often up to 20 gondolas proceed up the Grand Canal at a stately pace, all roped together in rows of six, while a single lusty-voiced tenor entertains the tourists on board - creating a solid obstacle to traffic in the centre of the channel. Other measures could include restrictions on boat delivery hours to shops, and tighter controls on taxis.

The gondoliers have yet to respond to Mr Costa's initiative, but they are unlikely to take it lying down. Mr Costa complained to La Repubblica newspaper that he had not received any reply from the boatmen. "They all protest and that's all they do," Mr Costa fumed, "everyone against everyone else, no one is willing to compromise".