UK tax-payers shell out £53k for private river, the Daily Mail gets annoyed

A private river was upgraded (how precisely does one upgrade a river?) by the British Environment Agency at a cost of £53,000 to tax-payers, says the Daily Mail.

Access to the mile-long section of the river, known to be one of the best trout fishing spots in the country, is limited to owner Stefan Persson - who also owns the H&M fashion retailer and is said to be worth £10 billion, his guests and anglers able to fork out £1700 annually for a permit.

However, just for once, it seems we can't slate the mega-rich in this instance. Mr. Persson's estate manager claimed that the estate originally applied for permission to carry out the work and to fund it themselves - but the Agency said they would pay for it, allowing them to improve a longer stretch of river than that owned by the tycoon.

So it seems that it's unfair to attack him - anyone who wishes to do so only needs look at his company's record on ethical trading if they're looking for a reason - but, surprise surprise, yet more proof of how you can't even use the Daily Mail to wipe your arse: you'd wipe more shit on than off. Might have been nice had the EA, considering the credit crunch, have accepted the £53k for that one-mile section and paid for the rest though, thus saving us all a bit of cash in these tough times.